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JOHN  SKALLY  TERRY 
MEMORIAL  COLLECTION 


ESTABLISHED  BY 

THE  FAMILY  IN  HONOR  OF 

JOHN  S.  TERRY 

CLASS  OF  1918 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF 
NORTH  CAROLINA  LIBRARY 


jis~> 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00022093315 


This  BOOK  may  be  kept  out  TWO  WEEKS 
ONLY,  and  is  subject  to  a  fine  of  FIVE 
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■*-—- 


THE   FIRE   EXTINGUISHERS  DROPPED  FROM  THE  LUcir 
THE  FLAMES. 
Tom  Swift  A  mone  the  Fire  Fighters. 


Page  200 


TOM  SWIFT  AMONG 
THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

OR 
Battling  with  Flames  from  the  Air 


By 
yiCTOR  APPLETON 

Author  of  "Tom  Swift  and  His  Motor  Cycle,"  "Tom 

Swift  and  His  Air  Scout,"  "Tom  Swift  and  His 

Undersea  Search,"  "The  Moving  Picture 

Boys  Series,"  etc. 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP 

PUBLISHERS 

Made  in  the  United  States  of  America 


BOOKS  FOR  BOYS 
By  VICTOR  APPLETON 

l2tno.    Cloth.    Illustrated. 


THE  TOM  SWIFT  SERIES 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  MOTOR  CYCLE 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  MOTOR  BOAT 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  AIRSHIP 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  SUBMARINE  BOAT 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  ELECTRIC  RUNABOUT 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  WIRELESS  MESSAGE 

TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  DIAMOND  MAKERS 

TOM  SWIFT  IN  THE  CAVES  OF  ICE 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  SKY  RACER 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  ELECTRIC  RIFLE 

TOM  SWIFT  IN  THE  CITY  OF  GOLD 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  AIR  GLIDER 

TOM  SWIFT  IN  CAPTIVITY 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  WIZARD  CAMERA 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GREAT  SEARCHLIGHT 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  PHOTO  TELEPHONE 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  AERIAL  WARSHIP 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  BIG  TUNNEL 

TOM  SWIFT  IN  THE  LAND  OF  WONDERS 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  WAR  TANK 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  AIR  SCOUT 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  UNDERSEA  SEARCH 

TOM  SWIFT   AMONG  THE  FJRE  FIGHTERS 


THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  SERIES 

THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS 
THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  IN  THE  WEST 
THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  ON  THE  COAST 
THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  IN  THE  JUNGLE 
THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  IN  EARTH- 
QUAKE LAND 
THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  AND  THE  FLOOD 
THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  AT  PANAMA 
THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  UNDER  THE  SEA 
THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  ON  THE  WAR 

FRONT 
THE  MOVING  PICTURE  BOYS  ON  FRENCH 
BATTLEFIELDS 


Grosset  &  Duni-ap,  Publishers,  New  York 


Copyright,  1921,  by 
GROSSET  &  DUNLAP 


Tom  Swift  Among  the  Fire  Fighters 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  A  Bad  Place  for  a  Fire I, 

II  No  Use  of  Loving! .,.-.;      II 

III  Tom's  New  Idea 22, 

IV  An  Experiment      .........  31 

V  The  Explosion 41 

VI  Tom  is  Worried 48 

VII  A  Forced  Landing 56 

VIII  Strange  Talk 66 

IX  Suspicions 74 

X  Another  Attempt 83 

XI  The  Blazing  Tree 92 

XII  Tom  is  Lonesome 103 

XIII  A  Successful  Test 111 

XIV  Out  cf  the  Clouds 119 

XV  Coals  of  Fire 128 

XVI  Violent  Threats 137 

XVII  A  Town  Blaze 144 

XVIII  Finishing  Touches 153 

XIX  On  the  Trail 162 


599138 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

XX  A  Heavy  Load  .     .    > 

XXI  The  Light  in  the  Sky 

XXII  Trapped    ..... 

XXIII  To  the  Rescue  .     .     . 

XXIV  A  Strange  Discovery  . 
XXV  The  Light  of  Day      . 


PAGE 

167 
174 
182 
188 
195 

209 


TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE 

FIRE  FIGHTERS 

CHAPTER  I 

A  BAD  PLACE  FOR  A  FIRE 

"Impossible,  Ned!  It  can't  be  as  much  ls 
that!" 

"Well,  you  can  prove  the  additions  yourself, 
Tom,  on  one  of  the  adding  machines.  I've  been 
over  'em  twice,  and  get  the  same  result  each 
time.  There  are  the  figures.  They  say  figures 
don't  lie,  though  it  doesn't  follow  that  the  op- 
posite is  true,  for  those  who  do  not  stick  closely 
to  the  truth  do,  sometimes,  figure.  But  there 
you  have  it;  your  financial  statement  for  the 
year,"  and  Ned  Newton,  business  manager  for 
Tom  Swift,  the  talented  young  inventor,  shoved 
a  mass  of  papers  across  the  table  to  his  friend 
and  chum,  as  well  as  employer. 

"It  doesn't  seem  possible,  Ned,  that  we  have 
made  as  much  as  that  this  past  year.     And  this, 


2     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

as  I  understand  it,  doesn't  include  what  was 
taken  from  the  wreck  of  the  Pandora?" 

Tom  Swift  looked  questioningly  at  Ned  New- 
ton, who  shook  his  head  in  answer. 

"You  really  didn't  get  anything  to  speak  of 
out  of  your  undersea  search,  Tom,"  replied  the 
young  financial  manager,  "so  I  didn't  include  it. 
But  there's  enough  without  that." 

"I  should  say  so !"  exclaimed  Tom.  "Whew !" 
he  whistled,  "I  didn't  think  I  was  worth  that 
much." 

"Well,  you've  earned  it,  every  cent,  with  the 
inventions  of  yourself  and  your  father." 

"And  I  might  add  that  we  wouldn't  have  half 
we  earn  if  it  wasn't  for  the  shrewd  way  you 
look  after  us,  Ned,"  said  Tom,  with  a  warm 
smile  at  his  friend.  "I  appreciate  the  Avay  you 
manage  our  affairs ;  for,  though  I  have  had  some 
pretty  good  luck  with  my  searchlight,  wizard 
camera,  war  tank  and  other  contraptions,  I  never 
would  have  been  able  to  save  any  of  the  money 
they  brought  in  if  it  hadn't  been  for  you." 

"Well,  that's  what  I'm  here  for,"  remarked 
Ned  modestly. 

"I  appreciate  that,"  began  Tom  Swift.  "And 
I  want  to  say,  Ned " 

But  Tom  did  not  say  what  he  had  started  to. 
He  broke  off  suddenly,  and  seemed  to  be  listen- 


A  BAD  PLACE  FOR  A  FIRE  3 

ing  to  some  sound  outside  the  room  of  his  home 
where  he  and  his  financial  and  business  manager 
were  going  over  the  year's  statement  and  ac- 
counting. 

Ned,  too,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  had  been 
busy  going  over  figures,  adding  up  long  columns, 
checking  statements,  and  giving  the  results  to 
Tom,  had  been  aware,  in  the  last  five  minutes,  of 
an  ever-growing  tumult  in  the  street.  At  first  it 
had  been  no  more  than  the  passage  along  the 
thoroughfare  of  an  unusual  number  of  pedes- 
trians. Ned  had  accounted  for  it  at  first  by  the 
theory  that  some  moving  picture  theater  had  fin- 
ished the  first  performance  and  the  people  were 
hurrying  home. 

But  after  he  had  finished  his  financial  labors 
and  had  handed  Tom  the  first  of  a  series  of  state- 
ments to  look  over,  the  young  financial  expert 
began  to  realize  that  there  was  no  moving  pic- 
ture house  near  Tom's  home.  Consequently  the 
passing  throngs  could  not  be  accounted  for  in 
that  way. 

Yet  the  tumult  of  feet  grew  in  the  highway 
outside.  Ned  had  begun  to  wonder  if  there  had 
been  an  attempted  burglary,  a  fight,  or  some- 
thing like  that,  calling  for  police  action,  which 
had  gathered  an  unusual  throng  that  warm, 
spring  evening. 


4     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

And  then  had  come  ^Tom's  interruption  of 
himself  when  he  broke  off  in  the  middle  of  a 
sentence  to  listen  intently. 

"What  is  it?"  asked  Ned. 

"I  thought  I  heard  Rad  or  Koku  moving 
around  out  there,"  murmured  Tom.  "It  may 
be  that  my  father  is  not  feeling  well  and  wants 
to  speak  to  me  or  that  some  one  may  have  tele- 
phoned. I  told  them  not  to  disturb  me  while 
you  and  I  were  going  over  the  accounts.  But 
if  it  is  something  of  importance " 

Again  Tom  paused,  for  distinctly  now  in  ad- 
dition to  the  ever-increasing  sounds  in  the  streets 
could  be  heard  a  shuffling  and  talking  in  the  hall 
just  outside  the  door. 

"G'wan  'way  from  heah  now !"  cried  the  voice 
of  a  colored  man. 

"It  is  Rad !"  exclaimed  Tom,  meaning  thereby 
Eradicate  Sampson,  an  aged  but  faithful  col- 
ored servant.  And  then  the  voice  of  Rad,  as 
he  was  most  often  called,  went  on  with : 

"G'wan  'way !     I'll  tell  Massa  Tom !" 

"Me  tell !  Big  thing !  Best  for  big  man  tell !" 
broke  in  another  voice;  a  deep,  booming  voice 
that  could  only  proceed  from  a  powerfully  built 
man. 

"Koku!"  exclaimed  Tom,  with  a  half  comical 
look  at  Ned.     "He  and  Rad  are  at  it  again !" 


A  BAD  PLACE  FOR  A  FIRE  5 

Koku  was  a  giant,  literally,  and  he  had  at- 
tached himself  to  Tom  when  the  latter  had  made 
one  of  many  perilous  trips.  So  eager  were 
Eradicate  and  Koku  to  serve  the  young  inven- 
tor that  frequently  there  were  more  or  less  good- 
natured  clashes  between  them  to  see  who  would 
have  the  honor. 

The  discussion  and  scuffle  in  the  hall  at  length 
grew  so  insistent  that  Tom,  fearing  the  aged 
colored  man  might  accidentally  be  hurt  by  the 
giant  Koku,  opened  the  door.  There  stood  the 
two,  each  endeavoring  to  push  away  the  other 
that  the  victor  might,  it  appeared,  knock  on  the 
door.  Of  course  Rad  was  no  match  for  Koku, 
but  the  giant,  mindful  of  his  great  strength,  was 
not  using  all  of  it. 

"Here!  what  does  this  mean?"  cried  Tom, 
rather  more  sternly  than  he  really  meant.  He 
had  to  pretend  to  be  stern  at  times  with  his  old 
colored  helper  and  the  impulsive  and  powerful 
giant.  "What  are  you  cutting  up  for  outside  my 
door  when  I  told  you  I  must  be  quiet  with  Mr. 
Newton?" 

"No  can  be  quiet!"  declared  the  giant.  "Too 
much  noise  in  street — big  crowds — much  big !" 

He  spoke  an  English  of  his  own,  did  Koku. 

"What  are  the  crowds  doing?"  asked  Ned.  "I 
thought  we'd  been  hearing  an  ever  increasing 


6     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

tumult,  Tom,"  he  said  to  the  young  inventor. 

"Big  crowds — 'urn  go  to  see  big " 

"Heah!  Let  me  tell  Massa  Tom!"  pleaded 
Rad.  Poor  Rad !  He  was  getting  old  and  could 
not  perform  the  services  that  once  he  had  so 
readily  and  efficiently  done.  Now  he  was  eager 
to  help  Tom  in  such  small  measure  as  carrying 
him  a  message.  So  it  was  with  a  feeling  of 
sadness  that  Tom  heard  the  old  man  say  again, 
pleadingly : 

"Let  me  tell  him,  Koku !  I  know  all  'bout  it ! 
Let  me  tell  Massa  Tom  whut  it  am,  an' " 

"Well,  go  ahead  and  tell  me !"  burst  out  Tom, 
with  a  good-natured  laugh.  "Don't  keep  me  in 
suspense.     If  there's  anything  going  on " 

He  did  not  finish  the  sentence.  It  was  evi- 
dent that  something  of  moment  was  going  on, 
for  the  crowds  in  the  street  were  now  running 
instead  of  walking,  and  voices  could  be  heard 
calling  back  and  forth  such  exclamations  as: 

"Where  is  it?" 

"Must  be  a  big  one !" 

"And  with  this  wind  it'll  be  worse !" 

Tom  glanced  at  Ned  and  then  at  the  two 
servants. 

"Has  anything  happened?"  asked  the  young 
inventor. 

"Dey's  a  big  fire,  Massa  Tom !"  exploded  Rad. 


A  BAD  PLACE  FOR  A  FIRE  7 

"Heap  big  blaze !"  added  Koku. 

At  the  same  time,  out  in  the  street  high  and 
clear,  the  cry  rang  out : 

"Fire!     Fire!" 

"Is  it  any  of  our  buildings?"  exclaimed  Tom, 
in  his  excitement  catching  hold  of  the  giant's 
arm. 

"No,  it's  quite  a  way  off,  on  de  odder  side  of 
town,"  answered  the  colored  man.  "But  we 
t'ought  we'd  better  come  an'  tell  yo',  an' " 

"Yes !  Yes !  I'm  glad  you  did,  Rad.  It  was 
perfectly  right  for  you  to  tell  me !  I  wish  you'd 
done  it  sooner,  though!  Come  on,  Ned!  Let's 
go  to  the  blaze !  We  can  finish  looking  over  the 
figures  another  time.  Is  my  father  all  right, 
Rad?" 

"Yes,  suh,  Massa  Tom,  he's  done  sleepm' 
good." 

"Then  don't  disturb  him.  Mr.  Newton  and  I 
will  go  to  the  fire.  I'm  glad  it  isn't  here,"  and 
Tom  looked  from  a  side  window  out  on  many 
shops  that  were  not  a  great  distance  from  the 
house;  shops  where  he  and  his  father  had  per- 
fected many  inventions. 

The  buildings  had  grown  up  around  the  old 
Swift  homestead,  which,  now  that  so  much  in- 
dustry surrounded  it,  was  not  the  most  pleasant 
place  to  live  in.     Tom  and  his  father  only  made 


8     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

this  their  stopping  place  in  winter.  In  the  sum- 
mer they  dwelt  in  a  quiet  cottage  far  removed 
from  the  scenes  of  their  industry. 

"We'll  take  the  electric  runabout,  Ned/'  re- 
marked Tom,  as  he  caught  up  a  hat  from  the 
rack,  an  example  followed  by  his  friend.  To- 
gether the  young  inventor  and  the  financial  man- 
ager hurried  out  to  the  garage,  where  Tom  soon 
had  in  operation  a  small  electric  automobile,  that, 
more  than  once,  had  proved  its  claim  to  being 
the  "speediest  car  on  the  road." 

As  they  turned  out  of  the  driveway  into  the 
street  they  became  aware  of  great  crowds  mak- 
ing their  way  toward  a  glow  of  sinister  red  light 
showing  in  the  eastern  sky. 

"Some  blaze!"  exclaimed  Tom,  as  he  turned 
on  more  power. 

"You  said  it!"  ejaculated  Ned.  "Must  be  a 
general  alarm,"  he  added,  as  they  caught  the 
sound  from  the  next  street  of  additional  appa- 
ratus hurrying  to  the  fire. 

"Well,  I'm  glad  it  isn't  on  our  side  of  town," 
remarked  Tom.  as  he  looked  back  at  the  peace- 
ful gloom  surrounding  and  covering  his  own 
home  and  work  buildings. 

"Where  do  you  reckon  it  is?"  asked  Ned,  as 
they  sped  onward. 

"Hard  to  say,"  remarked  the  young  inventor, 


A  BAD  PLACE  FOR  A  FIRE  g 

as  he  steered  to  one  side  to  pass  a  powerful  im- 
ported automobile  which,  however,  did  not  have 
the  speed  of  the  electric  runabout  "A  fire  at 
night  is  always  deceiving  as  to  direction.  But 
we  can  locate  it  when  we  get  to  the  top  of  the 
hill." 

Shopton,  the  suburb  of  the  town  where  Tom 
lived,  was  named  so  because  of  the  many  shops 
that  had  been  erected  by  the  industry  of  the 
young  inventor  and  his  father.  In  fact  the  town 
was  named  Shopton  though  of  late  there  had  been 
an  effort  to  change  the  name  of  the  strictly  resi- 
dential section,  which  lay  over  the  hill  toward  the 
river. 

Tom's  car  shot  up  the  slope  with  scarcely  any 
slackening  of  speed,  and,  as  he  passed  a  group  of 
men  and  boys  running  onward,  Tom  shouted : 

"Where  is  it?" 

"The  fireworks  factory !"  was  the  answer. 

"Fireworks  factory!"  cried  Ned.  "Bad  place 
for  a  fire !" 

"I  should  say  so!"  exclaimed  Tom. 

The  chums  had  become  gradually  aware  of  the 
gale  that  was  blowing,  and,  as  they  reached  the 
summit  of  the  hill  and  caught  sight  of  the  burn- 
ing factory,  they  saw  the  flames  being  swept  far; 
out  from  it  and  toward  a  collection  of  houses  on 
the  other  side  of  a  vacant  lot  that  separated  the 


10     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

fireworks   industrial   plant   from   the  dwellings. 

As  Tom  Swift  glimpsed  the  fire,  noted  its 
proportions  and  the  fierceness  of  the  flames,  and 
saw  which  way  the  wind  was  blowing  them,  he 
turned  on  the  power  to  the  utmost. 

"What  are  you  doing,  Tom?"  yelled  Ned. 

"I'm  going  down  there!"  cried  Tom.  "That 
place  is  likely  to  explode  any  minute!" 

"Then  why  go  closer?"  gasped  Ned,  for  his 
breath  was  almost  taken  away  by  the  speed  of 
the  car,  and  he  had  to  hold  his  hat  to  keep  it 
from  blowing  away.  "Why  don't  you  play 
safe?" 

"Don't  you  understand?"  shouted  Tom  in  his 
chum's  ear.  "The  wind  is  blowing  the  fire  right 
toward  those  houses !  Mary  Nestor  lives  in  one 
of  them !" 

"Oh — Mary  Nestor!"  exclaimed  Ned.  Then 
he  understood — Mary  and  Tom  were  engaged  to 
be  married. 

"They  may  be  all  right,"  Tom  went  on.  "I 
can't  be  sure  from  this  distance.  Or  they  may 
be  in  danger.     It's  a  bad  fire  and " 

His  voice  was  blotted  out  in  the  roar  of  an 
explosion  which  seemed  to  hurl  back  the  elec- 
tric runabout  and  bring  it  to  a  momentary  stop. 


CHAPTER  II 

NO  USE  OF  LIVING  ! 

Only  momentarily  was  Tom  Swift  halted  in 
his  progress  toward  the  scene  of  the  blaze  in 
the  fireworks  factory.  To  him,  and  to  the  chum 
who  sat  beside  him  on  the  seat  of  the  electric 
runabout,  it  appeared  that  the  blast  had  actually 
stopped  the  progress  of  the  car.  But  perhaps 
that  was  more  their  imagination  than  anything 
else,  for  the  machine  swept  on  down  the  hill,  at 
the  foot  of  which  was  the  conflagration. 

"That  was  a  bad  one,  Ned!"  gasped  Tom,  as 
he  turned  to  one  side  to  pass  an  engine  on  its 
way  to  the  scene  of  excitement. 

"I  should  say  so!  Must  have  been  somebody 
hurt  in  that  blow-up !" 

"I  only  hope  it  wasn't  Mary  or  her  folks!" 
murmured  Tom.  "The  wind  is  sweeping  the  fire 
right  that  way !" 

"What  are  you  going  to  do,  Tom?"  yelled  his 
chum,  as  the  business  manager  saw  the  young 
inventor  heading  directly  for  the  blaze.  "What's 
the  idea?" 

ii 


12     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS, 

"To  rescue  Mary,  if  she's  in  danger !" 

"I'm  with  you!"  was  Ned's  quick  response. 
"But  you  can't  go  any  closer.  The  police  are 
stretching  the  fire  lines !" 

"I  guess  they'll  let  me  through!"  said  Tom 
grimly. 

He  slowed  his  car  as  he  approached  a  place 
where  an  officer  was  driving  back  the  throng 
that  sought  to  come  closer  to  the  blaze. 

"Git  back!  Git  back,  I  tell  you!"  stormed  the 
policeman,  pushing  against  the  packed  bodies  of 
men  and  boys.  "There'll  be  another  blow-up  in 
a  minute  or  two,  and  a  lot  more  of  you  killed !" 

"Are  there  any  killed?"  asked  Jom,  stopping 
the  car  near  the  officer. 

"I  guess  so — yes.  And  some  of  the  houses 
are  catching.  Git  back  now!  You,  too,  with 
that  car !     You'll  have  to  back  up !" 

"I've  got  to  go  through !"  replied  Tom,  with 
tightening  lips.  "I've  got  to  go  through,  Cas- 
sidy !"  He  knew  the  officer,  and  the  latter  now 
seemed,  for  the  first  time,  to  recognize  the  young 
inventor. 

"Oh,  it's  you,  is  it,  Mr.  Swift?"  he  exclaimed. 
"Well,  go  ahead.  But  be  careful.  'Tis  danger- 
ous there — very  dangerous,  an' " 

His  voice  was  lost  in  the  roar  of  another  ex- 
plosion, not  as  loud  or  severe  as  the  first,  but 


NO  USE  OF  LIVING!  13 

more  plainly  felt  by  Tom  and  Ned,  for  they  were 
nearer  to  it. 

"Now  will  you  git  back !"  cried  Policeman  Cas- 
sidy,  and  the  crowd  did,  without  further  urging. 

Tom  started  the  runabout  forward  again. 

"We've  got  to  rescue  Mary!"  he  said  to  Ned, 
who  nodded. 

In  another  moment  the  two  young  men  were 
lost  to  sight  in  a  swirl  of  smoke  that  swept  across 
the  street.  And  while  they  are  thus  temporarily 
hidden  may  not  this  opportunity  be  taken  of  tell- 
ing new  readers  something  of  the  hero  of  this 
story? 

The  young  inventor  was  introduced  in  the  first 
volume  of  this  series,  called  "Tom  Swift  and  his 
Motor  Cycle."  It  was  Tom's  first  venture  into 
the  realms  of  invention,  after  he  had  purchased 
from  Mr.  Wakefield  Damon  a  speedy  machine 
that  tried  to  climb  a  tree  with  that  excitable 
gentleman. 

Tom,  with  the  help  of  his  father,  an  inven- 
tor of  note,  rebuilt  the  motor  cycle  adding  many 
improvements,  and  it  served  Tom  in  good  stead 
more  than  once. 

From  then  on  the  career  of  Tom  Swift  was 
steadily  onward  and  upward.  One  new  inven- 
tion led  to  another  from  his  second  venture,  a 
motor  boat,  through  an  airship  and  other  mar- 


14     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

vels,  and  eventually  to  a  submarine.  In  each  of 
these  vehicles  of  motion  and  travel  Tom  and 
his  friends,  Ned  Newton  and  Mr.  Damon,  had 
many  adventures,  detailed  in  the  respective  vol- 
umes. 

His  venture  in  proceeding  to  save  Mary  Nestor 
from  possible  danger  in  the  blaze  of  the  fire- 
works factory  was  not  the  first  time  Tom  had 
rendered  service  to  the  Nestor  family.  There 
was  that  occasion  on  which  he  had  sent  his  wire- 
less message  from  Earthquake  Island,  as  related 
in  an  earlier  volume. 

Space  forbids  the  detailing  of  all  that  had  hap- 
pened to  the  young  inventor  up  to  the  time  of 
the  opening  of  this  story.  Sufficient  to  say  that 
Tom's  latest  achievement  had  been  the  recovery 
of  treasure  from  the  depths  of  the  ocean. 

Tom  Swift's  activities  in  connection  with  his 
inventions  had  become  so  numerous  that  the 
Swift  Construction  Company,  of  which  Ned 
Newton  was  financial  manager  and  Mr.  Damon 
one  of  the  directors,  had  been  formed.  And 
when  the  rumor  came  that  there  was  a  chance 
to  salvage  some  of  the  untold  wealth  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  sea,  Tom  was  interested,  as  were  his 
friends. 

It  was  decided  to  search  for  the  wreck  of  the 
Pandora,  sunk  in  the  West  Indies,  and  one  of 


NO  USE  OF  LIVING!  15 

Tom's  latest  submarine  craft  was  utilized  for  this 
purpose. 

Not  to  go  into  all  the  details,  which  are  given 
in  the  last  volume  of  this  series,  entitled  "Tom 
Swift  and  His  Undersea  Search,"  suffice  it  to 
say  that  the  venture  was  begun.  Matters  were 
complicated  owing  to  the  fact  that  Mary  Nestor's 
uncle,  Barton  Keith,  was  in  trouble  over  the  loss 
of  valuable  papers  proving  his  title  to  some  oil 
lands.  Mary  mentioned  that  a  person,  Dixwell 
Hardley,  was  the  man  who,  it  was  supposed,  was 
trying  to  defraud  her  relative.  And  the  com- 
plications may  be  imagined  when  it  is  said  that 
this  same  Hardley  was  the  man  who  had  inter- 
ested Tom  in  the  undersea  search  for  the  riches 
of  the  Pandora. 

Tom  had  been  at  home  some  time  now,  and  it 
was  while  going  over  his  accounts  with  Ned,  and, 
incidentally,  planning  new  activities,  that  the  cry 
of  fire  broke  in  on  them. 

" Whew,  Tom,  some  heat  there !"  gasped  Ned, 
lowering  his  arm  from  his  face,  an  action  which 
had  been  necessitated  by  Tom's  daring  in  driv- 
ing the  car  close  to  the  blazing  fireworks  factory. 

"I  should  say  so!"  agreed  Tom.  "I  can  al- 
most smell  the  rubber  of  my  tires  burning.  But 
we're  out  of  the  worst  of  it." 

"Lucky  she  didn't  take  the  notion  to  blow  up 


16     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS. 

as  we  were  passing,"  grimly  commented  Ned. 
"Where  are  you  aiming  for  now?" 

"Mary's  house.  It's  just  beyond  here.  But 
we  can't  see  it  on  account  of  the  smoke." 

A  few  seconds  later  they  had  passed  through 
the  black  pall  that  was  slashed  here  and  there 
with  red  slivers  of  flame,  and,  coming  to  a  more 
open  space,  Ned  and  Tom  cleared  their  eyes  of 
smoke. 

"I  guess  there's  no  immediate  danger,"  re- 
marked Tom,  as  he  saw  that  the  home  of  Mary 
Nestor  and  the  houses  near  her  residence  were, 
for  the  time  being,  out  of  the  path  of  the  flames. 
The  explosion  had  blown  down  part  of  the  blaz- 
ing factory  nearest  the  residential  section,  and 
the  flames  had  less  to  feed  on. 

But,  the  conflagration  was  still  a  fierce  one. 
Not  half  the  big  factory  was  yet  consumed,  and 
every  now  and  then  there  would  sound  dull, 
booming  reports,  causing  nervous  screams  from 
the  women  who  were  out  in  front  of  their  homes, 
while  the  men  would  crouch  down  as  though  fear- 
ing a  shower  of  fiery  embers. 

"Oh,  Tom,  I'm  so  glad  you're  here!"  cried 
Mary,  as  the  runabout  drew  up  in  front  of  her 
home.  "Do  you  think  it  will  be  much  worse?" 
and  she  clutched  his  arm,  as  he  got  down  to  speak 
to  her. 


NO  USE  OF  LIVING!  jy 

"I  think  the  worst  is  over,  as  far  as  you  peo- 
ple here  are  concerned,"  the  young  inventor  re- 
plied.    "The  wind  has  shifted  a  bit." 

"And  there  are  several  engines  near  us,  Tom," 
said  Mr.  Nestor,  coming  forward.  "The  fire- 
men tell  me  they  will  play  streams  of  water  on 
the  roofs  and  outsides  of  our  houses  if  the  flames 
start  this  way  again." 

"That  ought  to  do  the  trick,"  said  Tom,  with 
a  show  of  confidence.  "Anybody  hurt  around 
here?"  he  asked.  "One  of  the  policeman  said  he 
heard  several  were  killed." 

"They  may  have  been — in  the  factory,"  said 
Mr.  Nestor.  "Of  course  if  the  fire  and  explo- 
sions had  taken  place  in  the  daytime  the  loss  of 
life  would  have  been  great.  But  most  of  the 
workers  had  left  some  time  before  the  blaze  was 
discovered.  There  are  a  few  men  on  a  night 
shift,  though,  and  I  shouldn't  be  surprised  but 
what  some  of  them  had  suffered." 

"Too  bad!"  murmured  the  young  inventor. 
"You're  not  worried  about  your  home,  are  you, 
Mrs.  Nestor?"  he  asked  of  Mary's  mother. 

"Oh,  Tom,  I  certainly  am !"  she  exclaimed.  "I 
wanted  to  bring  out  our  things,  but  Mr.  Nestor 
said  it  wouldn't  be  of  any  use." 

"Neither  it  would,  if  we've  got  to  burn,  but  I 
don't  believe  we  have — now,"  said  her  husband. 


18     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"That  last  explosion  and  the  shift  of  the  wind 
saved  us.  I  appreciate  your  coming  over,  Tom/' 
he  went  on.  "We  might  have  needed  your  help. 
It's  queer  there  isn't  some  better,  or  more  effec- 
tive, way  of  fighting  a  fire  than  just  pouring  on 
a  comparatively  insignificant  bit  of  water,"  he 
added,  as,  from  what  was  now  a  safe  distance, 
they  watched  the  firemen  using  many  lines  of 
hose. 

"They  do  have  chemical  extinguishers,"  said 
Ned. 

"Yes,  for  little  baby  blazes  that  have  just 
started,"  went  on  Mr.  Nestor.  "But  in  all  the 
progress  of  science  there  has  not  been  much  ad- 
vance in  fighting  fires.  We  still  do  as  they  did 
a  hundred  years  ago — squirt  water  on  it,  and 
mighty  little  of  it  compared  to  the  blaze.  It 
would  take  a  week  to  put  this  fire  out  by  the 
water  they  are  using  if  it  were  not  for  the  fact 
that  the  blaze  eats  itself  up  and  has  nothing 
more  to  feed  on." 

"We'll  have  to  get  Tom  to  invent  a  new  way 
of  fighting  fire,"  remarked  Ned. 

The  young  inventor  was  about  to  reply  when 
several  firemen,  equipped  with  smoke  helmets 
which  they  adjusted  as  they  ran,  came  running 
down  the  street. 


NO  USE  OF  LIVING!  19 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Tom  of  one  whom 
he  knew. 

"Some  men  are  trapped  in  a  small  shed  back 
of  the  factory,"  was  the  answer.  "We  just 
heard  of  it,  and  we're  going  in  after  them.  Oh! 
Oh — my — my  heart !"  he  gasped,  and  he  sank  to 
the  sidewalk.  Evidently  he  was  either  overcome 
by  the  smoke  and  poisonous  gases  or  by  his  exer- 
tions. 

Tom  grasped  the  situation  instantly.  Taking 
the  smoke  helmet  from  the  exhausted  fire-fighter, 
the  young  inventor  shouted : 

"I'll  fill  your  place!  See  if  you  can  grab  a 
hat,  Ned,  and  come  on !" 

One  of  the  other  firemen  had  two  helmets, 
and  he  offered  Ned  one.  Pausing  only  long 
enough  to  see  that  Mr.  Nestor  and  some  others 
were  looking  after  the  exhausted  "smoke-eater," 
Ned  raced  on  after  Tom.  The  two  young  men, 
following  the  firemen,  made  their  way  around 
the  end  of  the  factory  to  the  smoke-filled  yard 
in  the  rear.  But  for  the  helmets,  which  were  like 
the  gas  masks  of  the  Great  War,  they  would  not 
have  been  able  to  live. 

One  of  the  firemen  pointed  through  the  luridly- 
lighted  smoke  to  a  small  structure  near  the  main 
Jbuilding.     This  was  beginning  to  burn.     With 


2p     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

quick  blows  of  an  axe  the  door  was  hewed  down, 
and  the  rescue  party,  including  Tom  and  Ned, 
made  its  way  inside.  In  the  light  from  the  blaze, 
as  it  filtered  through  the  windows,  it  could  be 
seen  that  a  man  lay  in  a  huddled  heap  on  the 
floor. 

By  motions  the  leader  of  the  rescue  squad  made 
it  clear  that  the  man  was  to  be  carried  out,  and 
,Tom  helped  with  this  while  Ned,  using  an  axe, 
cleared  away  some  debris  to  enable  the  door  to 
be  opened  fully  so  the  men  could  pass  out  carry- 
ing their  burden. 

The  man  was  taken  to  the  Nestor  yard  and 
stretched  out  on  the  grass.  Word  was  relayed  to 
one  of  the  ambulance  doctors  who  were  on  the 
scene  attending  to  several  injured  firemen,  and 
in  a  short  time  the  man,  who,  it  appeared,  had 
been  overcome  by  smoke,  was  revived. 

"Well,  that  was  a  narrow  squeak  for  you," 
said  one  of  the  firemen,  glad  to  breathe  without 
a  mask  on. 

"Yes,  it  was  touch  and  go,"  remarked  the 
young  doctor,  who  had  used  heroic  measures  to 
bring  the  man  back  from  the  brink  of  the  grave. 
"But  you'll  live  now,  all  right." 

The  revived  man  looked  dully  about  him.  He 
seemed  somewhat  bewildered. 


NO  USE  OF  LIVING!  21 

"Of  what  use  to  live?"  he  murmured.  "You 
might  as  well  have  let  me  die  in  there.  Life 
isn't  worth  living  now,"  and  he  sank  into  a  stupor, 
while  Tom  and  the  others  looked  wonderingly 
at  one  another. 


CHAPTER  III 


TOM  S  NEW  IDEA 


"What's  the  matter  with  him,  Doctor  ?"  asked 
Tom  in  a  low  voice  of  the  young  physician  who 
had  been  working  over  the  man.  "Do  you  think 
he  is  worse  hurt  than  appears  ?  Is  he  dying,  and 
is  his  mind  wandering?" 

"I  don't  believe  so,"  answered  the  doctor.  "At 
least  I  don't  believe  that  he  is  dying,  though  his 
mind  may  be  wandering.  He  isn't  injured — at 
least  not  outwardly.  Just  temporarily  overcome 
by  smoke  is  what  it  looks  like  to  me.  But  of 
course  I  haven't  made  a  thorough  examination." 

"Hadn't  we  better  get  him  into  the  house,  Doc- 
tor?" asked  Mr.  Nestor,  who  stood  with  Tom, 
Ned  and  a  group  of  men  and  boys  about  the  inert 
form  of  the  man  lying  on  the  grass.  The  rescued 
one  was  again  seemingly  unconscious. 

"The  best  medicine  he  can  have  is  fresh  air," 
the  doctor  replied.  "He's  better  off  out  here  than 
in  the  house.  Though  if  he  doesn't  revive  pres- 
ently I  will  send  him  to  the  hospital" 

22 


TOM'S  NEW  IDEA  23 

The  man  did  not  appear  to  be  so  badly  off  but 
what  he  could  hear,  and  at  these  words  he  opened 
his  eyes  again. 

"I  don't  want  to  go  to  the  hospital,"  he  mur- 
mured. "I'll  be  all  right  presently,  and  can  go 
home,  though — Oh,  well,  what's  the  use?"  he 
asked  wearily,  as  though  he  had  given  up  some 
fight.     "I've  lost  everything." 

"Well,  you've  got  a  deal  of  life  left  in  you  yet; 
and  that's  more  than  you  could  say  of  some  who 
have  come  out  of  smaller  fires  than  this,"  said 
one  of  the  firemen  who,  with  Tom,  had  carried 
the  man  out  of  the  shed.  "Come  on,  we'd  bet- 
ter be  getting  back,"  he  said  to  his  companion. 
"The  worst  of  it  is  over,  but  there'll  be  plenty 
to  do  yet." 

"You  said  it !"  commented  the  other  grimly. 

They  went  out  of  the  Nestor  yard,  many  of 
the  crowd  that  had  gathered  during  the  rescue 
following.  The  doctor  administered  some  more 
stimulant  in  the  shape  of  aromatic  spirits  of  am- 
monia to  the  man,  who,  after  his  momentary  re- 
vival, had  again  lapsed  into  a  state  of  stupor. 

"Who  is  he?"  asked  Tom,  as  the  physician 
knelt  down  beside  the  silent  form. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  Nestor.  "I  know 
quite  a  number  connected  with  the  fireworks  fac- 
tory, but  this  man  is  a  stranger  to  me." 


24     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"I've  seen  him  going  into  the  main  offices  sev- 
eral times,"  remarked  Mary,  who  was  standing 
beside  Tom.  "He  seemed  to  be  one  of  the  com- 
pany officers." 

"I  don't  believe  so,  Mary,"  stated  her  father. 
"I  know  most  of  the  fireworks  company  officials, 
and  I'm  sure  this  man  is  not  one  of  them.  Poor 
fellow !     He  seems  to  be  in  a  bad  way." 

"Mentally,  as  well  as  physically,"  put  in  Ned. 
"He  acted  as  if  sorry  that  we  had  saved  his  life." 

"Too  bad,"  murmured  Mary,  and  then  a  police- 
man, who  had  just  come  into  the  yard  to  get  the 
facts  for  his  report,  looked  at  the  figure  lying  on 
the  grass,  and  said : 

"I  know  him." 

"You  do?"  cried  Tom.     "Who  is  he?" 

"Name's  Baxter,  Josephus  Baxter.  He's  a 
chemist,  and  he  works  in  the  fireworks  factory 
here.  Not  as  one  of  the  hands,  but  in  the  ex- 
periment laboratory.  I've  seen  him  there  late  at 
night  lots  of  times.  That's  how  I  got  acquainted 
with  him.  He  was  going  in  around  two  o'clock 
one  morning,  and  I  stopped  him,  thinking  he  was 
a  thief.  He  proved  his  identity,  and  I've  passed 
the  time  of  day  with  him  many  a  time  since." 

"Where  does  he  live?"  asked  Mr.  Nestor. 

"Down  on  Clay  Street,"  and  the  officer  men- 


TOM'S  NEW  IDEA  25 

tioned  the  number.  "He  lives  all  alone,  so  he 
told  me.  He's  some  sort  of  an  inventor,  I  guess. 
At  least  I  judged  so  by  his  talk.  Do  you  want 
an  ambulance,  Doctor?"  he  asked  the  physician. 

"No,  I  think  he's  coming  around  all  right,"  was 
the  answer.  "If  we  had  an  auto  we  could  send 
him  home." 

"I'll  take  him  in  the  runabout,"  eagerly  offered 
Tom.  "But  if  he  lives  all  alone  will  it  be  safe 
to  leave  him  in  his  house?" 

"He  ought  to  be  looked  after,  I  suppose,"  the 
doctor  stated.  "He'll  be  all  right  in  a  day  or  so 
if  no  complications  set  in,  but  he'll  be  weak  for 
a  while  and  need  attention." 

"Then  I'll  take  him  home  with  me !"  announced 
Tom.  "We  have  plenty  of  room,  and  Mrs.  Bag- 
gert  will  feel  right  at  home  with  some  one  to 
nurse.  Bring  the  runabout  here,  wiH  you 
please,  Ned?" 

As  Ned  darted  off  to  run  up  the  machine,  the 
man  opened  his  eyes  again.  For  a  moment  he 
did  not  seem  to  know  where  he  was  or  what  had 
happened.  Then,  as  he  saw  the  lurid  light  of 
the  flames  which  were  now  dying  away  and  re- 
alized his  position,  he  sighed  heavily  and  mur- 
mured: 

"It's  all  over!" 


26     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"Oh,  no,  it  isn't!"  cheerfully  exclaimed  the 
doctor.     "You  will  be  all  right  in  a  few  days." 

"Myself,  yes,  maybe,"  said  the  man  bitterly, 
and  he  managed  to  rise  to  his  feet.  "But  what 
of  my  future?  It  is  all  gone!  The  work  of 
years  is  lost." 

"Burned  in  the  fire?"  asked  Tom,  wondering 
whether  the  man  was  a  major  stockholder  in 
the  company.  "Didn't  you  have  any  insurance? 
Though  I  suppose  you  couldn't  get  much  on  a 
fireworks  plant,"  he  added,  for  he  knew  some- 
thing of  insurance  matters  in  connection  witH 
his  own  business. 

"Oh,  it  isn't  the  fire — that  is  directly,"  said 
the  man,  in  the  same  bitter  tones.  "I've  lost 
everything!  The  scoundrels  stole  them!  And 
I— Oh,  never  mind !"  he  cried.  "What's  the  use 
of  talking?  I'm  down  and  out!  I  might  just 
as  well  have  died  in  the  fire !" 

Tom  was  about  to  make  some  remark,  but  the 
doctor  motioned  to  him  to  refrain,  and  then  Ned 
came  up  with  the  runabout.  At  first  Josephus 
Baxter,  which  was  the  name  of  the  man  who 
had  been  rescued,  made  some  objections  to  go- 
ing to  Tom's  home.  But  when  it  was  pointed 
out  that  he  might  lapse  into  a  stupor  again  from 
the  effects  of  the  smoke  poisons,  in  which  event 
he  would  have  no  one  to  minister  to  him  at  his 


TOM'S  NEW  IDEA  27 

lonely  home,  he  consented  to  go  to  the  residence 
of  the  young  inventor. 

"Though  if  I  do  lapse  into  unconsciousness 
you  might  as  well  let  me  keep  on  sleeping  until 
the  end,"  said  Mr.  Baxter  bitterly  to  Tom  and 
Ned,  as  they  drove  away  from  the  scene  of  the 
fire  with  him. 

"Oh,  3'ou'll  feel  better  in  the  morning,"  cheer- 
fully declared  Ned. 

The  man  did  not  answer,  and  the  two  chums 
did  not  feel  much  like  talking,  for  they  were 
worn  out  and  weary  from  their  exertions  at  the 
fire.  The  factory  had  been  pretty  well  consumed, 
though  by  strenuous  labors  the  blaze  had  not  ex- 
tended to  adjoining  structures.  The  home  of 
Mary  Nestor  was  saved,  and  for  this  Tom  Swift 
was  thankful. 

Mrs.  Baggert,  the  Swift's  housekeeper,  was  in- 
deed glad  to  have  some  one  to  "fuss  over,"  as 
[Tom  put  it.  She  prepared  a  bed  for  Mr.  Baxter, 
and  in  this  the  weary  and  ill  man  sank  with  a 
sigh  of  relief. 

"Can  I  do  anything  for  you?"  asked  Tom,  as 
he  was  about  to  go  out  and  close  the  door. 

"No — thank  you,"  was  the  halting  reply.  "I 
guess  nothing  can  be  done.  Field  and  Melling 
have  me  where  they  want  me  now — down  and 
out." 


28     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS, 

"Do  you  mean  Amos  Field  and  Jason  Melling 
of  the  fireworks  firm?"  asked  Tom,  for  the  names 
were  familiar  to  him  in  a  business  way. 

"Yes,  the — the  scoundrels!''  exclaimed  Mr* 
Baxter,  and  from  his  voice  Tom  judged  that  he 
was  growing  stronger.  "They  pretended  to  be 
my  friends,  giving  me  a  shop  in  which  to  work 
and  experiment,  and  when  the  time  came  they 
took  my  secret  formulae.  I  believe  that  is  what 
they  started  the  fire  for — -to  conceal  their  crime !" 

"You  don't  mean  that !"  cried  Tom.  "Deliber- 
ately to  start  a  fire  in  a  factory  where  there  was 
powder  and  other  explosives!  That  would  be  a 
terrible  crime !" 

"Field  and  Melling  are  capable  of  just  such 
crimes  as  that!"  said  Josephus  Baxter,  bitterly. 
"If  they  took  my  formulae  they  wouldn't  stop  at 
arson." 

"Were  your  formulae  for  the  manufacture  of 
fireworks?"  asked  Tom. 

"Not  altogether,"  was  the  reply.  "I  had  sev- 
eral formulas  for  valuable  chemical  combinations. 
fThey  could  be  used  in  fireworks,  and  that  is  why 
I  could  use  the  laboratory  here.  But  the  main 
use  of  my  discoveries  is  in  the  dye  industry.  I 
would  have  been  a  millionaire  soon,  with  the  rise 
of  the  American  dye  industry  following  the  shut- 
ting out  of  the  Germans  after  the  war.     But  now, 


TOM'S  NEW  IDEA  29 

with  my  secret  formulae  gone,  I  am  no  better  than 
a  beggar !" 

"Perhaps  it  will  not  be  as  bad  as  you  think," 
said  Tom,  recognizing  the  fact  that  Mr.  Baxter 
was  in  a  nervous  and  excited  state.  "Matters 
may  look  brighter  in  the  morning." 

"I  don't  see  how  they  can,"  was  the  grim  an- 
swer. "However,  I  appreciate  all  that  you  have 
done  for  me.     But  I  fear  my  case  is  hopeless." 

"I'll  see  you  again  in  the  morning,"  Tom  said, 
trying  to  infuse  some  cheerfulness  into  his  voice. 

He  found  Ned  waiting  for  him  when  he  came 
downstairs. 

"How  is  he?"  asked  the  young  business  man- 
ager. 

"In  rather  a  bad  way — mentally,  at  least,"  and 
Tom  told  of  the  lost  formulae.  "Do  you  know, 
Ned,"  he  went  on,  "I  have  an  idea!" 

"You  generally  do  have — lots  of  'em!"  Ned 
rejoined. 

"But  this  is  a  new  one,"  went  on  Tom.  "You 
saw  what  trouble  they  had  this  evening  to  get  a 
stream  of  water  to  the  top  stories  of  that  fac- 
tory, didn't  you?" 

"Yes,  the  pressure  here  isn't  what  it  ought  to 
be,"  Ned  agreed.  "And  some  of  our  engines  are 
old-timers." 

"Why  is  it  necessary  always  to  fight  a  fire  with 


30     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

water?"  Tom  continued.  "There  are  plenty  of 
chemicals  that  will  put  out  a  fire  much  quicker 
than  water." 

"Of  course,"  Ned  answered.  "There  are 
plenty  of  chemical  fire  extinguishers  on  the  mar- 
ket, too,  Tom.  If  your  idea  is  to  invent  a  new 
hand  grenade,  stay  off  it!  A  lot  of  money  has 
been  lost  that  way." 

"I  wasn't  thinking  of  a  hand  grenade,"  said 
Tom,  as  he  drew  some  sheets  of  paper  across  the 
table  to  him.  "My  idea  is  on  a  bigger  scale. 
There's  no  reason,  Ned,  why  a  big  fire  in  a  tall 
building,  like  a  sky-scraper,  shouldn't  be  fought 
from  above,  as  well  as  from  below.  Now  if  I 
had  the  right  sort  of  chemicals  I  could " 

Tom  paused  in  a  listening  attitude.  There  was 
the  rush  of  feet  and  a  voice  cried : 

"I'll  get  them !     I'll  get  the  scoundrels !" 


CHAPTER  IV 


AN  EXPERIMENT 


"That  can't  be  Koku  and  Rad  in  one  of  their 
periodic  squabbles,  can  it  ?"  asked  Ned. 

"No.  It's  probably  Mr.  Baxter,"  Tom  an- 
swered. "The  doctor  said  he  might  get  violent 
once  or  twice,  until  the  effects  of  his  shock  wore 
off.  There  is  some  quieting  medicine  I  can  give 
him.     I'll  run  up." 

"Guess  I'd  better  go  along,"  remarked  Ned. 
"Sounds  as  if  you'd  need  help." 

And  it  did  appear  so,  for  again  the  frenzied 
shouts  sounded : 

"I'll  get  'em !  I'll  get  the  scoundrels  who  stole 
my  secret  formulae  that  I  worked  over  so  many 
years!  Come  back  now!  Don't  put  the  match 
near  the  powder!" 

Tom  and  Ned  hurried  to  the  room  where  the 
unfortunate  chemist  had  been  put  to  bed,  to  find 
him  out  in  the  hall,  wrapped  in  a  bedquilt,  and 
with  Mrs.  Baggert  vainly  trying  to  quiet  him. 
Mr.  Baxter  stared  at  Tom  and  Ned  without  see- 
ing them,  for  he  was  in  a  delirium  of  fever. 

31 


32     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"Have  you  my  formulae?"  he  asked.  "I  want 
them  back!" 

"You  shall  have  them  in  the  morning,"  replied 
,Tom  soothingly.  "Lie  down,  and  I'll  bring  them 
to  you  in  the  morning.  And  drink  this,"  he 
added,  holding  out  a  glass  of  soothing  mixture 
which  the  doctor  had  ordered  in  case  the  patient 
should  become  violent. 

Josephus  Baxter  glared  about  with  wild  eyes, 
but  between  them  Tom  and  Mrs.  Baggert  man- 
aged to  get  him  to  drink  the  mixture. 

"Bah !  It's  as  bad  as  some  of  my  chemicals !" 
spluttered  the  chemist,  as  he  handed  back  the 
glass.  "You  are  sure  you'll  have  my  formulae 
in  the  morning?"  he  asked,  as  he  turned  to  go 
back  to  his  room. 

"I'll  do  my  best,"  declared  Tom  (cheerfully. 
"Now  please  lie  down." 

Which,  after  some  urging,  Mr.  Baxter  con- 
sented to  do.  Eradicate  wanted  to  lie  down  in 
the  hall  outside  the  excited  chemist's  door  to\ 
guard  against  his  emerging  again,  but  Tom  de- 
cided on  Koku.  The  giant,  though  not  as  in- 
telligent as  the  colored  man,  was  more  efficient 
in  an  emergency  because  of  his  great  strength. 
Eradicate  was  getting  old,  and  there  was  a  pa- 
thetic droop  to  his  figure  as  he  shuffled  off  when 
Koku  superseded  him. 


AN  EXPERIMENT  33 

"Ah  done  guess  Ah  ain't  wanted  much  mo'," 
muttered  Rad  sadly. 

"Oh,  yes,  you  are!"  cried  Tom,  as,  the  excite- 
ment over,  he  walked  downstairs  with  Ned. 
"I'm  going  to  start  something  new,  Rad,  and  I'll 
need  your  help." 

"Will  yo',  really,  Massa  Tom?"  exclaimed 
faithful  Rad,  his  face  lighting  up.  "Dat's  good ! 
Is  yo'  goin'  off  after  mo'  diamonds,  or  up  to  de 
caves  of  ice?" 

"Not  quite  that,"  answered  the  young  inven- 
tor, recalling  the  stirring  experiences  that  had 
fallen  to  him  when  on  those  voyages.  "I'm  go- 
ing to  work  around  home,  Rad,  and  I'll  need  your 
help." 

"Anyt'ing  yo'  wants,  Massa  Tom!  Anyt'ing 
yo'  wants!"  offered  the  now  delighted  Rad,  and 
he  went  to  bed  much  happier. 

"Well,  to  resume  where  we  left  off,"  began 
Ned,  when  he  and  Tom  were  once  more  by 
themselves,  "what's  the  game?" 

"Oh,  I  don't  know  that  it's  much  of  a  game," 
was  the  answer.  "But  I  just  have  an  idea  that 
a  big  fire  in  a  towering  building  can  be  fought 
from  above  with  chemicals,  as  well  as  from  the 
ground  with  streams  of  water. 

"Well,  I  guess  it  could  be,"  Ned  agreed.  "But 
how  are  you  going  to  get  your  chemicals  in  at 


34     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

the  top?  Shoot  'em  up  through  a  hose?  If 
you  do  that  you'll  need  a  special  kind  of  hose, 
for  the  chemicals  will  rot  anything  like  rub- 
ber or  canvas." 

"I  wasn't  thinking  of  a  hose,"  returned  Tom. 

'•'What  then?"  asked  the  young  financial  man- 
ager. 

"An  airship!"  Tom  exclaimed  with  such  sudden 
energy  that  Ned  started.  "It  just  came  to  me!" 
explained  the  youthful  inventor.  "I  was  wonder- 
ing how  we  could  get  the  chemicals  in  from  the 
top,  and  an  airship  is  the  solution.  I  can  sail 
over  the  burning  building  and  drop  the  chemicals 
down.  That  will  douse  the  blaze  if  my  plans  go 
right." 

Ned  was  silent  a  moment,  considering  Tom's 
daring  plan  and  project.  Then,  as  it  became 
clearer,  the  young  banker  cried : 

"Blamed  if  I  don't  think  that's  just  the  thing, 
Tom!  It  ought  to  work,  and,  if  it  does,  it  will 
save  a  lot  of  lives,  to  say  nothing  of  property! 
A  fire  in  a  sky-scraper  ought  to  be  fought  from 
above.  Then  the  extinguisher  element,  whether 
chemicals  or  water,  could  be  dropped  where 
they'd  do  the  most  good.  As  it  is  now,  with 
water,  a  lot  of  it  is  wasted.  Some  of  it  never 
reaches  the  heart  of  the  fire,  being  splashed  on 
the  outside  of  *the  building.     A  lot  more  turns  to 


AN  EXPERIMENT  35 

steam  before  it  hits  the  flames,  and  only  a  small 
percentage  is  really  effective. " 

"That's  my  notion,"  Tom  said. 

"Then  go  ahead  and  do  it!"/urged  his  friend. 
"You  have  my  permission !"  \s 

"Thanks,"  commented  Tom  dryly.  "But  there 
are  several  things  to  be  worked  out  before  we  can 
start.  I've  got  to  devise  some  scheme  for  carry- 
ing a  sufficient  quantity  of  chemicals,  and  invent 
some  way  of  releasing  them  from  an  airship  over 
the  blaze.  But  that  last  part  ought  to  be  easy,  for 
I  think  I  can  alter  my  warfare  bomb-dropping 
attachment  to  serve  the  purpose. 

"What  I  really  need,  however,  is  some  new 
chemical  combination  that  will  quickly  put  a 
really  big  blaze  out  of  business.  There  are  any 
number  of  these  chemicals,  but  most  of  them  de- 
pend on  the  production  of  carbon  dioxide.  This 
is  the  product  of  some  solution  of  a  carbonate 
and  sulphuric  acid,  and  I  suppose,  eventually,  I'll 
work  out  something  on  that  order.  But  I  hope  I 
may  get  something  better." 

"You  haven't  delved  much  into  chemistry,  have 
you?"^^/ 

"No.  And  I  wish  now  that  I  had.  I  see  my 
limitations  and  realize  my  weakness.  But  I  can 
brush  up  a  little  on  my  chemistry.  As  for  the 
mechanical  part,  that  of  dropping  the  extinguisher 


$6     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

on  the  blaze,  I'm  not  worrying  over  that  end." 

"No,"  agreed  Ned.  "You  have  enough  types 
of  airships  to  be  able  to  select  just  the  best  one 
for  the  purpose.  But,  say,  Tom!"  he  suddenly 
cried,  "why  not  ask  him  to  help  you?" 

"Who?" 

"Mr.  Baxter.  He's  a  chemist.  And  though 
he  says  his  formulae  are  about  dyes  and  fireworks, 
maybe  he  can  put  you  in  the  way  of  inventing  a 
chemical  solution  that  will  be  death  to  fires." 

"He  might,"  Tom  agreed.  "But  I  think  he'll 
be  out  of  business  for  some  time.  This  shock — 
being  overcome  by  smoke  and  his  secret  formulae 
having  been  stolen — seem  to  have  affected  his 
mind.     I  don't  know  that  I  could  depend  on  him." 

"It's  worth  trying,"  declared  Ned.  "What  do 
you  suppose  he  means,  Tom,  saying  that  Field 
and  Melling  stole  his  formulae?" 

"Haven't  the  least  idea.  I  only  know  those 
fireworks  firm  members  slightly,  if  at  all.  I'm 
not  sure  I'd  recognize  them  if  I  met  them.  But 
they  are  reputed  to  be  wealthy,  and  I  hardly  think 
they  would  stoop  to  stealing  some  inventor's 
formulae. 

"We  inventors  are  a  suspicious  lot,  Ned,  as  you 
probably  have  found  out,"  he  added  with  a  smile. 
"We  imagine  the  rest  of  the  world  is  out  to  cheat 


AN  EXPERIMENT  37, 

us,  and  I  presume  Josephus  Baxter  is  no  excep- 
tion. Still,  there  may  be  some  truth  in  his  story. 
I'll  give  him  all  the  help  I  can.  But  I'm  going 
into  the  aerial  fire-fighting  game.  I've  been  wait- 
ing for  something  new,  and  this  may  be  it.' V 

"You  may  count  on  me !"  declared  Ned.  "And 
now,  unless  you're  going  to  sit  up  all  night  and 
start  studying  chemistry,  you'd  better  come  to 
bed." 

"That's  right.  To-morrow  is  another  day.  I 
hope  Mr.  Baxter  gets  some  rest.  Sleep  will  im- 
prove him  a  lot,  the  doctor  said." 

"I  know  one  friend  of  yours  who  will  be  glad 
to  know  that  you  are  going  to  start  something," 
remarked  Ned,  as  he  and  Tom  started  for  their 
rooms,  for  the  young  manager  was  staying  with 
his  friend  for  the  night. 

"Who?"     Tom  wanted  to  know. 

"Mr.  Wakefield  Damon,"  was  the  answer. 
"He  hasn't  been  over  lately,  Tom." 

"No,  he's  been  off  on  a  little  trip,  blessing 
everything  from  his  baggage  check  to  his  sus- 
pender buttons,"  laughed  the  young  inventor,  as 
he  recalled  his  eccentric  acqaintance.  "I  shall  be 
glad  to  see  him  again." 

"He'll  be  right  over  as  soon  as  he  learns  what's 
in  the  wind,"  predicted  Ned. 


38     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

The  hopes  that  Mr.  Baxter  would  be  greatly 
improved  in  the  morning  were  doomed  to  disap- 
pointment He  was  in  no  actual  danger,  the 
doctor  said,  but  his  recovery  from  the  effects  of 
the  smoke  he  had  breathed  was  not  as  rapid  as 
desired  or  hoped  for. 

"He's  suffering  from  some  shock,"  said  the 
physician,  "and  his  mental  condition  is  against 
him.  He  ought  to  be  kept  quiet,  and  if  you 
can't  have  him  here,  Mr.  Swift,  I  can  arrange  to 
have  him  sent  to  a  hospital." 

"I  wouldn't  dream  of  it!"  Tom  exclaimed. 
"Let  him  stay  here  by  all  means.  We  have  plenty 
of  room,  and  Mrs.  Baggert  has  been  wishing  for 
some  one  to  nurse.     Now  she  has  him." 

So  it  was  arranged  that  the  chemist  should 
remain  at  the  Swift  home,  and  he  gave  a  lan- 
guid assent  when  they  spoke  to  him  of  the  mat- 
ter. He  really  was  much  more  ill  than  seemed 
at  first. 

But  as  everything  possible  had  been  done,  Tom 
decided  to  go  ahead  with  the  new  idea  that  had 
come  to  him — that  of  inventing  an  aerial  chemical 
fire-fighting  machine. 

"And  if  we  get  a  chance,  Ned,  we'll  try  to  get 
back  those  secret  formulae  Mr.  Baxter  claims  to 
have  lost,"  Tom  declared.  "I  have  heard  some 
stories  about  that  fireworks  firm,  which  make  me 


AN  EXPERIMENT  39 

believe  there  may  be  something  in  Baxter's  story." 

"All  right,  Tom,  I'm  with  you  any  time  you 
need  me,"  Ned  promised. 

The  young  inventor  lost  little  time  in  beginning 
his  operations.  As  he  had  said,  the  chief  need 
was  a  fire  extinguishing  chemical  solution  or 
powder.  Tom  resolved  to  try  the  solution  first, 
as  it  was  easier  to  make.  With  this  end  in  view 
he  proceeded  to  delve  into  old  and  new  chemistry 
books.     He  also  sought  the  advice  of  his  father. 

And  one  day,  when  Ned  called,  Tom  electrified 
his  chum  with  the  exclamation : 

"Well,  I'm  going  to  give  it  a  try !" 

"What?" 

"My  aerial  chemical  fire-fighting  apparatus. 
Of  course  I  only  have  the  chemical  yet.  I 
haven't  worked  on  the  carrying  apparatus  nor 
decided  how  I  will  attach  it  to  an  airship.  But 
I'm  going  up  now  with  some  of  my  new  solution 
and  drop  it  on  a  blaze  from  above." 

"Where  are  you  going  to  get  the  fire?"  asked 
Ned.  "You  can't  have  a  sky-scraper  blaze  made 
to  order,  you  know." 

"No,  but  as  this  is  only  an  experiment,"  Tom 
said,  "  a  big  bonfire  will  answer  the  purpose.  I'm 
having  Koku  and  Rad  make  one  now  down  in  our 
big  meadow.  As  soon  as  it  gets  hot  enough  and 
fierce  enough,  I'll  sail  over  it  in  my  small  ma- 


40     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

chine,  drop  the  extinguisher  on  it,  and  see  what 
happens.     Want  to  come?" 

"Sure  thing!"  cried  Ned.  "And  I  hope  the 
experiment  is  a  success !" 

"Thanks,"  murmured  Tom.  "I'm  about  ready 
to  start.  All  I  have  to  do  is  to  take  this  tank 
up  with  me,"  and  he  pointed  to  one  containing 
his  new  mixture.  "Of  course  the  arrangement 
for  dumping  it  out  of  the  aircraft  is  very  crude," 
Tom  said.     "But  I  can  work  on  that  later." 

Ned  and  he  were  busy  putting  the  can  of  Tom's 
new  chemical  extinguisher  in  the  airship  when  the 
door  of  the  hangar  was  suddenly  opened  and  a 
very  much  excited  man  entered  crying: 

"Fire!  Fire!  Bless  my  kitchen  sink,  your 
meadow's  on  fire,  Tom  Swift !  It's  blazing  high ! 
Fire!     Fire!" 


CHAPTER  V 


THE   EXPLOSION 


Tom  and  Ned  were  so  startled  by  the  entrance 
of  the  excited  man  with  his  cry  of  "Fire!"  that 
the  young  inventor  nearly  dropped  the  tank  of 
liquid  extinguisher  he  was  helping  to  hoist  into 
the  aeroplane.  Then,  as  he  caught  sight  of  his 
visitor,  Tom  exclaimed : 

"Hello,  Mr.  Damon!  We  were  wondering 
whether  you'd  be  along  to  witness  our  first  experi- 
ment." 

"Experiment,  Tom  Swift!  Experiment!  Bless 
my  Latin  grammar!  but  you'd  much  better  be 
calling  out  the  fire  department  to  play  on  that 
blaze  down  in  your  meadow.  What  is  it — your 
barns  or  one  of  your  new  shops  ?" 

"Neither  one,  Mr.  Damon,"  laughed  Ned. 
"It's  only  a  blaze  that  Koku  and  Rad  started." 

"And  the  fire  department  is  here,"  added  Tom. 

"Where?"  inquired  the  eccentric  man. 

"Here,"  and  Tom  pointed  to  his  airship — one 
of  the  smaller  craft — into  which  the  tank  of 
chemicals  had  been  hoisted. 

41 


42     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"Oh!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Damon.  "Something 
new,  eh,  Tom  ?"     His  eyes  glistened. 

"Yes.  Fighting  fires  from  the  air.  I  got  the 
idea  after  the  fireworks  factory  went  up  in 
smoke.  Will  you  come  along?  There's  plenty 
of  room." 

"I  believe  I  will,"  assented  Mr.  Damon.  It 
was  not  the  first  time,  by  any  means,  that  he  had 
gone  aloft  with  Tom.  "I  happened  to  be  com- 
ing over  in  my  auto,"  he  went  on  to  explain, 
"when  I  happened  to  see  the  fire  down  in  the 
meadow.  I  was  afraid  you  didn't  know  about 
it." 

"Oh,  yes,"  replied  Tom.  "I  had  Rad  and  Koku 
light  a  big  pile  of  packing  boxes,  to  represent,  as 
nearly  as  possible,  on  a  small  scale,  a  burning 
building.  I  plan  now  to  sail  over  it  and  drop  the 
tins  of  chemicals.  They  are  arranged  to  burst 
as  they  fall  into  the  blaze,  and  I  hope  the  carbon 
dioxide  set  loose  will  blanket  out  the  fire." 

"Sounds  interesting,"  commented  Mr.  Damon. 
"I'll  go  along." 

The  airship  was  wheeled  out  of  the  hangar 
and  was  soon  ready  for  the  flight.  A  big-  cloud 
of  black  vapor  down  in  the  meadow  told  Tom  and 
Ned  that  Koku  and  Eradicate  had  done  their 
work  well.  The  giant  and  the  colored  man  had 
poured  oil  over  the  wood  to  make  a  fierce  blaze 


THE  EXPLOSION 


43 


that  would  give  Tom's  new  chemical  combination 
a  severe  test. 

A  mechanic  turned  the  propeller  of  the  airship 
until  there  was  an  accumulation  of  gas  in  the 
different  cylinders.  Then  he  stepped  back  while 
Tom  threw  on  the  switch.  This  was  not  one  of 
the  self-starting  types,  of  which  Tom  possessed 
one  or  two. 

"Contact!"  cried  Tom  sharply,  and  the  man 
stepped  forward  to  give  the  big  blades  a  final 
turn  that  would  start  the  motor.  There  was  a 
muffled  roar  and  then  a  steady  staccato  blending 
of  explosions.  Tom  raced  the  motor  while  his 
men  held  the  machine  in  place,  and  then,  satisfied 
that  all  was  well,  the  young  inventor  gave  the 
word,  and  the  craft  raced  over  the  ground,  to 
soar  aloft  a  little  later. 

Tom,  Ned  and  Mr.  Damon  could  look  down 
to  the  meadow  where  the  bonfire  was  blazing.  A 
crowd  had  collected,  but  the  heat  of  the  blaze  kept 
them  at  a  good  distance.  Then,  as  many  of  the 
throng  caught  sight  of  the  airship  overhead,  there 
was  a  new  interest  for  them. 

Tom  had  told  Ned  and  Mr.  Damon,  before  the 
trio  had  entered  the  machine,  what  he  wanted 
them  to  do.  This  was  to  toss  the  chemicals  over- 
board at  the  proper  time.  Of  course  in  his  per- 
fected apparatus  Tom  hoped  to  have  a  device  by 


44     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

which  he  could  drop  the  fire  extinguishing  ele- 
ments by  a  mere  pressure  of  his  finger  or  foot, 
as  bombs  were  released  from  aircraft  during  the 
war.     But  this  would  serve  for  the  time  being. 

Nearer  and  nearer  the  blaze  the  airship  ap- 
proached until  it  was  almost  above  it.  Tom  had 
had  some  experience  in  bomb-dropping,  and  knew 
when  to  give  the  signal. 

At  last  the  signal  came.  Mr.  Damon  and  Ned 
heaved  over  the  side  the  metal  containers  of  the 
powerful  chemicals. 

Down  they  went,  unerring  as  an  arrow,  though 
on  a  slant,  caused  by  the  impetus  given  them  by 
the  speed  of  the  airship. 

Tom  and  his  friends  leaned  over  the  side  of 
the  machine  to  watch  the  effect.  They  could  see 
the  chemicals  strike  the  blaze,  and  it  was  evident 
from  the  manner  in  which  the  fire  died  down  that 
the  containers  had  broken,  as  Tom  intended  they 
should  to  scatter  their  contents. 

"Hurray !"  cried  Ned,  forgetting  that  he  could 
not  be  heard,  for  no  head  telephones  were  used 
on  this  occasion  and  the  roar  of  the  motor  would 
drown  any  human  voice.     "It's  working,  Tom !" 

Truly  the  effect  of  the  chemicals  was  seemingly 
to  cause  the  fire  to  go  out,  but  it  was  only  a 
momentary  dying  down.  Koku  and  Rad  had 
made  a  fierce,  yet  comparatively  small,  conflagra- 


THE  EXPLOSION  45 

tion,  and  though  for  a  time  the  gas  generated  by 
Tom's  mixture  dampened  the  blaze,  in  a  few 
seconds — less  than  half  a  minute — the  flames 
were  shooting  higher  than  ever. 

Tom  made  a  gesture  of  disappointment,  and 
swung  his  craft  around  in  a  sharp,  banking  turn. 
He  had  no  more  chemicals  to  drop,  as  he  had 
thought  this  supply  would  be  sufficient.  How- 
ever, he  had  guessed  badly.  The  fire  burned  on, 
doing  no  damage,  of  course,  for  that  had  been 
thought  of  when  it  was  started  in  the  meadow. 

"Something  wrong!"  declared  the  young  in- 
ventor, when  they  were  back  at  the  hangar,  climb- 
ing out  of  the  machine. 

"What  was  it?"  asked  Ned. 

"Didn't  use  the  right  kind  of  chemicals,"  Tom 
answered.  "From  the  way  the  flames  shot  up, 
you'd  think  I  had  poured  oil  on  the  blaze  instead 
of  carbon  dioxide." 

"Bless  my  insurance  policy,  Tom!"  cried  Mr. 
Damon,  "but  I'd  hate  to  trust  to  your  apparatus 
if  my  house  caught." 

"Don't  blame  you,"  Tom  assented.  "But  I'll 
do  the  trick  yet!     This  is  only  a  starter!" 

During  the  next  two  weeks  the  young  inventor 
worked  hard  in  his  laboratory,  Mr.  Swift  some- 
times helping  him,  but  more  often  Koku  and 
Eradicate.     Mr.  Baxter  had  recovered  sufficiently 


46     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

to  leave  the  Swift  home.  But  though  the  chemist 
seemed  well  physically,  his  mind  appeared  to  be 
brooding  over  his  loss. 

"If  I  could  only  get  my  secret  formulae  back!" 
he  sighed,  as  he  thanked  Tom  for  his  kindness. 
"I'm  sure  Field  and  Melling  have  them.  And  I 
believe  they  got  them  the  night  of  the  fireworks 
blaze;  the  scoundrels !" 

"Well,  if  I  can  help  you,  please  let  me,"  begged 
Tom.  And  then  he  dismissed  the  matter  from 
his  mind  in  his  anxiety  to  hit  upon  the  right 
chemical  mixture  for  putting  out  fires  from  the 
air. 

One  afternoon,  at  the  end  of  a  week  in  which 
he  had  been  busily  and  steadily  engaged  on  this 
work,  Tom  finally  moved  away  from  his  labora- 
tory table  with  a  sigh  of  relief,  and,  turning  to 
Eradicate,  who  had  been  helping  him,  exclaimed : 

"Well,  I  think  I  have  it  now!" 

"Good  Ian'  ob  massy,  I  hopes  so!"  exclaimed 
the  colored  man.  "It  sho'  do  smell  bad  enough, 
Massa  Tom,  to  make  any  fire  go  an'  run  an' 
drown  hisse'f !     Whew-up!     It's  tumble  stuff!" 

"Yes,  it  isn't  very  pleasant,"  Tom  agreed,  with 
a  smile.  "Though  I  am  getting  rather  used  to 
it.  But  when  it's  in  a  metal  tube  it  won't  smell, 
and  I  think  it  will  put  out  any  fire  that  ever 
started.     We'll  give  it  a  test  now,  Rad.     Just  take 


THE  EXPLOSION  4.7 

that  flask  of  red  stuff  and  pour  it  into  this  one  of 
yellow.  I'll  go  out  and  light  the  bonfire,  and 
we'll  make  a  small  test." 

Leaving  Rad  to  mix  some  of  the  chemicals,  a 
task  the  colored  man  had  often  done  before,  Tom 
went  out  into  the  yard  near  his  laboratory  to  start 
a  blaze  on  which  his  new  mixture  could  be  tested. 

He  had  not  got  far  from  the  laboratory  door 
when  he  felt  a  sudden  jar  and  a  rush  of  air,  and 
then  followed  the  dull  boom  of  an  explosion. 
Like  an  echo  came  the  voice  of  Eradicate : 

"Oh,  Massa  Tom,  I'se  blowed  up!  It  done 
sploded  right  in  mah  face !" 


CHAPTER  VI 


TOM    IS    WORRIED 


Dropping  what  he  had  in  his  hands,  Tom 
Swift  raced  back  to  the  laboratory  where  he  had 
left  Eradicate  to  mix  the  chemicals.  Again  the 
despairing,  frightened  cry  of  the  colored  man 
rang  out. 

"I  hope  nothing  serious  has  happened,"  was  the 
thought  that  flashed  through  Tom's  mind.  "But 
I'm  afraid  it  has.  I  should  have  mixed  those  new 
chemicals  myself." 

Koku,  the  giant,  who  was  at  work  in  another 
part  of  the  shop  yard,  heard  Rad's  cry  and  came 
running  up.  As  there  was  always  more  or  less 
jealousy  between  Eradicate  and  Koku,  the  latter 
now  thought  he  had  a  chance  to  crow  over  his 
rival,  not,  of  course,  understanding  what  had 
happened. 

"Ho!  Ho!"  laughed  Koku.  "You  much 
better  hab  me  work,  Master  Tom.  I  no  make 
blunderstakes  like  dat  black  fellow!  I  never  no 
make  him !" 


TOM  IS  WORRIED  49 

"I  don't  know  whether  Rad  has  made  a  mis- 
take or  not,"  murmured  Tom.  "Come  along, 
Koku,  we  may  need  your  help.  There  has  been 
an  explosion." 

"Yep,  dat  Rad  he  don't  as  know  any  more  as 
to  blow  up  de  whole  place !"  chuckled  Koku. 

He  thought  he  would  have  a  chance  to  make 
fun  of  Eradicate,  but  neither  he  nor  Tom  realized 
how  serious  had  been  the  happening.  As  the 
young  inventor  reached  the  laboratory,  which  he 
had  left  but  a  few  seconds  before,  he  saw  the  in- 
terior almost  in  ruins.  All  about  were  scattered 
various  pieces  of  apparatus,  test  tubes,  alembics, 
retorts,  flasks,  and  an  electric  furnace. 

But  what  gave  Tom  more  concern  than  any- 
thing else  was  the  sight  of  Eradicate  lying  in  the 
midst  of  broken  glass  on  the  floor.  The  colored 
man  was  moaning  and  held  his  hands  over  his 
face,  and  the  young  inventor  could  see  that  the 
hands,  which  had  labored  so  hard  and  faithfully 
in  his  service,  were  cut  and  bleeding. 

"Rad !  Rad !  what  has  happened  ?"  cried  Tom 
quickly. 

"It  sploded!  It  done  sploded  right  in  mah 
face!"  moaned  Eradicate.  "I — I  can't  see  no 
mo',  Massa  Tom !  I  can't  see  to  help  yo'  nevah 
no  mo' !" 

"Don't  worry  about  that,  Rad !"  cried  Tom,  as 


50     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

cheerfully  as  possible  under  the  circumstances. 
"We'll  soon  have  you  fixed  up!  Come  in  here, 
Koku,  and  help  me  carry  Rad  out !" 

Though  the  fumes  from  the  chemicals  that  had 
exploded  were  choking,  causing  both  Tom  and 
Koku  to  gasp  for  breath,  they  never  hesitated. 
In  they  rushed  and  picked  up  the  limp  figure  of 
the  helpless  colored  man. 

"Poor  Rad!"  murmured  the  giant  Koku  ten- 
derly. "Him  bad  hurt!  I  carry  him,  Master 
Tom!  I  take  him  bed,  an'  I  go  for  doctor!  I 
run  like  painted  pig !" 

Probably  Koku  meant  "greased  pig,"  but  Tom 
never  thought  of  that.  All  his  concern  was  for 
his  faithful  Eradicate. 

"Me  carry  him,  Master  Tom !"  cried  Koku,  all 
the  petty  jealousy  of  his  rival  passing  away  now. 
"Me  take  care  ob  Rad.  Him  no  see,  me  see  for 
him.  Anybody  hurt  Rad  now,  got  to  hurt  Koku 
first!" 

It  was  a  fine  and  generous  spirit  that  the  giant 
was  showing,  though  Tom  had  no  time  to  specu- 
late on  it  just  then. 

"We  must  get  him  into  the  house,  Koku,"  said 
the  young  inventor.  "And  two  of  us  can  carry 
him  better  than  one.  After  we  get  him  to  a  bed 
you  can  go  for  the  doctor,  though  I  fancy  the 


TOM  IS  WORRIED  51 

telephone  can  run  even  quicker  than  you  can, 
Koku." 

"Whatever  Master  Tom  say,"  returned  the 
giant  humbly,  as  he  looked  with  pity  at  the  suffer- 
ing form  of  his  rival — a  rival  no  longer.  It 
seemed  that  Rad's  working  days  were  over. 

Tenderly  the  aged  colored  man  was  laid  on  a 
lounge  in  the  living  room,  Mr.  Swift  and  Mrs. 
Baggert  hovering  over  him. 

"Where  are  you  worst  hurt,  Rad  ?"  asked  Tom, 
with  a  view  to  getting  a  line  on  which  physician 
would  be  the  best  one  to  summon. 

"It's  all  in  mah  face,  Massa  Tom,"  moaned  the 
colored  man.  "It's  mah  eyes.  Dat  stuff  done 
sploded  right  in  'em!  I  can't  see — nevah  no 
mo' !" 

"Oh,  I  guess  it  isn't  as  bad  as  that,"  said  Tom. 
But  when  he  had  a  glimpse  of  the  seared  and 
wounded  face  of  his  faithful  servant  he  could  not 
repress  a  shudder. 

A  physician  was  summoned  by  telephone,  and 
he  arrived  in  his  automobile  at  the  same  time  that 
Mr.  Damon  reached  Tom's  house. 

"Bless  my  bottle  of  arnica,  Tom !"  exclaimed 
the  eccentric  man,  with  sympathy  in  his  voice. 
"What's  this  I  hear?  One  of  your  men  tells  me 
old  Eradicate  is  killed !" 


52     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"Not  as  bad  as  that,  yet,"  replied  Tom,  as  he 
came  out,  leaving  the  doctor  to  make  his  first 
examination.  "It  was  an  explosion  of  my  new 
aerial  fire-fighting  chemicals  that  I  left  Rad  to 
mix  for  me.  If  anything  serious  results  to  him 
from  this  I'll  drop  the  whole  business !  I'll  never 
forgive  myself !" 

"It  wasn't  your  fault,  Tom.  Perhaps  he  did 
something  wrong,"  said  Mr.  Damon. 

"Yes,  it  was  my  fault.  I  should  not  have  let 
him  take  the  chance  with  a  mixture  I  had  tried 
only  a  few  times.  But  we'll  hope  for  the  best. 
How  is  he,  Doctor?"  Tom  asked  a  little  later 
when  the  physician  came  out  on  the  porch. 

"He's  doing  as  well  as  can  be  expected  for  the 
present,"  was  the  answer.  "I  have  given  him  a 
quieting  mixture.  His  worst  injury  seems  to  be 
to  his  face.  His  hands  are  cut  by  broken  glass, 
but  the  hurts  are  only  superficial.  I  think  we 
shall  have  to  get  an  eye  specialist  to  look  at  him 
in  a  day  or  two." 

"You  mean  that  he — 'that  he  may  go  blind?" 
gasped  Tom. 

"Well,  we'll  not  decide  right  away,"  replied  the 
doctor,  as  cheerfully  as  he  could.  "I  should 
rather  have  the  opinion  of  an  oculist  before 
making  that  statement.  It  may  be  only  tem- 
porary." 


TOM  IS  WORRIED  53 

"That's  bad  enough!"  muttered  Tom.  "Poor 
oldRad!" 

"Me  take  care  ob  him,"  put  in  Koku,  who  had 
been  humbly  standing  around  waiting  to  hear  the 
news.  "Me  never  be  mad  at  dat  black  man  no 
more !  Him  my  best  friend !  I  lub  him  like  I  did 
my  brudder!" 

"Thank  you,  Koku,"  said  Tom,  and  his  mind 
went  back  to  the  time  when  he  had  escaped  in  his 
airship  from  the  gigantic  men,  of  whom  Koku 
and  his  brother  were  two  specimens.  The 
brother  had  gone  with  a  circus,  and  Koku,  for 
several  years,  only  saw  him  occasionally. 

Everything  possible  was  done  for  Eradicate, 
and  the  doctor  sai'd  that  it  would  be  several  days, 
until  after  the  burns  from  the  exploding  chemicals 
had  partly  healed,  before  the  eye-doctor  could 
make  an  examination. 

"Then  we  can  only  wait  and  hope,"  said  Tom. 

"And  hope  for  the  best !"  advised  Mr.  Damon. 

"I'll  try,"  promised  Tom.  He  went  back  to 
the  laboratory  with  his  eccentric  friend  and  with 
Ned,  who  had  come  over  as  soon  as  he  heard  the 
news.  Not  much  of  an  examination  could  be 
made,  as  the  place  was  in  such  ruins.  But  it  was 
surmised  that  in  combining  the  two  chemical  mix- 
tures a  new  one  had  been  created,  or  at  least  one 
that  Tom  had  not  counted  on.     This  had  ex- 


54     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

ploded,  blowing  Eradicate  down,  flaring  a  sheet 
of  flame  up  into  his  face,  scattering  broken  glass 
about,  and  generally  creating  havoc. 

"I  can't  understand  it,"  said  Tom.  "I  was  try- 
ing to  make  a  fire  extinguishing  liquid,  and  it 
turned  out  to  be  a  fire  creator.  I  don't  see  what 
was  wrong." 

"One  chemical  might  have  been  impure,"  sug- 
gested Ned. 

"Yes,"  agreed  Tom.  "I'll  check  them  over  and 
try  to  find  out  where  the  mistake  happened." 

"This  place  will  have  to  be  rebuilt,"  observed 
Ned.     "It's  in  bad  shape,  Tom." 

"I  don't  mind  that  in  the  least,  if  Rad  doesn't 
lose  his  eyesight,"  was  the  answer  of  the  young 
inventor,  and  his  friends  could  see  that  he  was 
much  worried,  as  well  he  might  be. 

In  silence  Tom  Swift  looked  about  the  ruins 
of  what  had  been  a  fine  chemical  laboratory. 

"It  will  take  a  month  to  get  this  back  in  shape," 
he  said  ruefully.  "I  guess  I  shall  have  to  post- 
pone my  experiments." 

"Why  not  ask  Mr.  Baxter  to  help  you?"  sug- 
gested Ned. 

"What  can  he  do?"  Tom  wanted  to  know. 
"He  hasn't  any  laboratory." 

"He  has  a  sort  of  one,"  Ned  rejoined.    "You 


TOM  IS  WORRIED  55 

know  you  told  me  to  keep  track  of  him  and  give 
him  any  help  I  could." 

"Yes,"  Tom  nodded. 

"Well,  the  other  day  he  came  to  me  and  said 
he  had  a  chance  to  set  up  a  small  laboratory  in 
a  vacant  shop  near  the  river.  He  needed  a  little 
capital  and  I  lent  it  to  him,  as  you  told  me  tr  ;' 

"Glad  you  did,"  returned  Tom.  "But  dc  you 
suppose  his  plant  is  large  enough  to  enable  1  e  to 
work  there  until  mine  is  in  shape  again?" 

"It  wouldn't  do  any  harm  to  take  a  look,"  sug- 
gested Ned. 

"I'll  do  it !"  decided  Tom,  more  hopefully  than 
he  had  spoken  since  the  accident. 


CHAPTER  VII 


A    FORCED  LANDING 


Joseph  us  Baxter  seemed  to  have  recovered 
some  of  his  spirits  after  his  narrow  escape  from 
death  in  the  fireworks  factory  blaze.  He  greeted 
Tom  and  Ned  with  a  smile  as  they  entered  the 
improvised  laboratory  he  had  been  able  to  set  up 
in  what  had  once  been  a  factory  for  the  making 
of  wooden  ware,  an  industry  that,  for  some 
reason,  did  not  flourish  in  Shopton. 

"I'm  glad  to  see  you,  Mr.  Swift,"  said  the 
chemist,  who  seemed  to  have  aged  several  years 
in  the  few  weeks  that  had  intervened  since  the 
fire.  "I  want  to  thank  you  for  giving  me  a 
chance  to  start  over  again." 

"Oh,  that's  all  right,"  said  Tom  easily.  "We 
inventors  ought  to  help  one  another.  Are  you 
able  to  do  anything  here?" 

"As  much  as  possible  without  my  secret 
formulae,"  was  the  answer.  "If  I  only  had  those 
back  from  the  rascals,  Field  and  Melling,  I  would 
be  able  to  go  ahead  faster.     As  it  is,  I  am  work- 

56 


A  FORCED  LANDING  57 

Ing  in  the  dark.  For  some  of  the  formulas  were 
given  to  me  by  a  Frenchman,  and  I  had  only  one 
copy.  I  kept  that  in  the  safe  of  the  fireworks 
concern,  and  after  the  fire  it  could  not  be  found." 

"Was  the  safe  destroyed  ?"  asked  Tom. 

"No.  But  the  doors  were  open,  and  much  of 
what  had  been  inside  was  in  ashes  and  cinders. 
Amos  Field  claimed  that  the  explosion  had  blown 
open  the  safe  and  burned  a  lot  of  their  valuable 
fireworks  formulae  too." 

"And  you  believe  they  have  yours  ?"  asked  Ned. 

"I'm  sure  of  it!"  was  the  fierce  answer. 
"Those  men  are  unprincipled  rogues !  They  had 
been  at  me  ever  since  I  was  foolish  enough  to 
tell  them  about  my  formulae  to  get  me  to  sell 
them  a  share.  But  I  refused,  for  I  knew  the 
secret  mixtures  would  make  my  fortune  when  I 
could  establish  a  new  dye  industry.  Field  and 
Melling  claimed  they  wanted  the  formulae  for 
their  fireworks,  but  that  was  only  an  excuse.  The 
formulae  were  not  nearly  so  valuable  for  pyro- 
technics as  for  dyes.  The  fireworks  business  is 
giot  so  good,  either,  since  so  many  cities  have 
voted  for  a  'Sane  Fourth  of  July.'  " 

"I  can  appreciate  that,"  said  Tom.  "But  what 
we  called  for,  Mr.  Baxter,  is  to  find  if  you  have 
room  enough  to  let  me  do  a  little  experimenting 
here.     I  am  working  on  a  new  kind  of  fire  ex- 


58     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

tinguisher,  to  be  dropped  on  tall  buildings  from 
an  airship." 

"Sounds  like  a  good  idea,"  said  the  chemist, 
rather  dreamily. 

"Well,  I  have  the  airship,  and  I  can  see  my 
way  clear  to  perfecting  a  device  to  drop  the 
chemicals  in  metal  tanks  or  bombs,"  went  on  Tom. 
"But  what  bothers  me  is  the  chemical  mixture  that 
will  put  out  fires  better  than  the  carbon  dioxide 
mixtures  now  on  the  market." 

"I  haven't  given  that  much  study  myself,"  said 
Mr.  Baxter.  "But  you  are  welcome  to  anything 
I  have,  Mr.  Swift.  The  whole  place,  such  as  it 
is,  will  be  at  your  disposal  at  any  time.  I  intend 
to  have  it  in  better  shape  soon,  but  I  have  to  pro* 
ceed  slowly,  as  I  lost  nearly  everything  I  owned 
in  that  fire.  If  I  could  only  get  those  formulas 
back !"  he  sighed. 

"Perhaps  you  may  recall  the  combinations,'" 
suggested  Ned.  "Or  can't  you  get  them  from 
that  Frenchman?" 

"He  is  dead,"  answered  the  chemist.  "Every- 
thing seems  to  be  against  me !" 

"Well,  it's  always  darkest  just  before  daylight," 
said  Tom.  "So  let  us  hope  for  the  best.  We 
both  have  had  a  bit  of  bad  luck.  But  when  I 
think  of  Rad,  who  may  lose  his  eyesight,  I  can 
stand  my  losses  smiling." 


A  FORCED  LANDING  59 

"Yes,"  agreed  Mr.  Baxter,  "you  have  big  as- 
sets when  you  have  your  health  and  eyesight." 

Three  days  later  the  eye  specialist  looked  at 
Rad.  Tom  stood  by  anxiously  and  waited  for 
the  verdict.  The  doctor  motioned  to  the  young 
inventor  to  follow  him  out  of  the  room,  whilt 
Mrs.  Baggert  replaced  the  bandages  on  the  colored 
man's  eyes  and  Koku  stood  near  him,  sym- 
pathetically patting  Rad  on  the  back. 

"Well?"  asked  Tom  nervously,  as  he  faced  the 
physician. 

"I  am  sorry,  Mr.  Swift,  that  I  can  not  hold  out 
much  hope  that  your  man  will  ever  regain  his 
sight,"  was  the  answer. 

Tom  could  not  repress  a  gasp  of  pity. 

"I  do  not  say  that  the  case  is  altogether  hope- 
less," the  doctor  went  on ;  "but  it  would  be  wrong 
to  encourage  you  to  hope  for  much.  I  may  be 
able  to  save  partly  the  sight  of  one  eye." 

"Poor  Rad!"  murmured  Tom.  "This  will 
break  his  heart." 

"There  is  no  need  for  telling  him  at  once,"  Dr. 
Henderson  said.  "It  will  only  make  his  recovery 
so  much  the  slower.  It  will  be  weeks  before  I 
am  able  to  operate,  and,  meanwhile,  he  should  be 
kept  as  comfortable  and  cheerful  as  possible." 

"We'll  see  to  that,"  declared  Tom.  "Is  he 
otherwise  injured?" 


6o     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"No,  it  is  merely  his  eyesight  that  we  have  ta 
fear  for.  And,  as  I  said,  that  is  not  altogether 
hopeless,  though  it  would  not  be  honest  to  let  you 
look  for  much  success.  I  shall  see  him  from  time 
to  time  until  his  eyes  are  ready  to  operate  on." 

Tom  and  his  friends  were  forced  to  take  such 
comfort  as  they  could  from  this  verdict,  but  no 
hint  of  their  downcast  feelings  were  made  mani- 
fest to  Eradicate. 

"Whut  de  doctor  man  done  say,  Massa  Tom?" 
asked  Eradicate  when  the  young  inventor  went 
back  into  the  sick  room. 

"Oh,  he  talked  a  lot  of  big  Latin  words,  Rad — 
bigger  words  than  you  used  to  use  on  your  mule 
Boomerang,"  and  Tom  forced  a  laugh.  "All 
he  meant  was  that  you'd  have  to  stay  in  bed  a 
while  and  let  Koku  wait  on  you." 

"Huh!  Am  dat — dat  big — dat  big  nice  man 
heah  now?"  asked  Rad,  feeling  around  with  his 
bandaged  hand;  and  a  smile  showed  beneath  the 
cloth  over  his  eyes. 

"I  here  right  upsidedown  by  you,  Rad,"  said 
Koku,  and  his  big  hand  clasped  the  smaller  one 
of  the  black  man. 

"Koku — yo' — yo'  am  mighty  good  to  me," 
murmured  Eradicate.  "I  reckon  I  been  cross  to 
yo'  sometimes,  but  I  didn't  mean  nuffin*  by  it !" 

"Huh !  me  an'  you  good  friends  now,"  said  the 


A  FORCED  LANDING  fa 

giant     "Anybody  what  hurt  my  Rad,  I — I — bust 
'im !     Dat  I  do !"  cried  the  big  fellow. 

"Come  on,"  whispered  Tom  to  Ned.     "They'll 
get  along  all  right  together  now." 

But  Eradicate  caught  the  sound  of  his  young 
employer's  footsteps  and  called : 
"Yo'  goin',  Massa  Tom?" 
"Yes,  Rad.     Is  there  anything  you  want  ?" 
"No,  Massa  Tom.     I  jest  wanted  to  ast  if  yo' 
done  'membered  de  time  mah  mule  Boomerang 
got  stuck  in  de  road,  an'  yo'  couldn't  git  past  in 
yo'  auto?    pees  yo'  'member  dat?" 

"Indeed  1  do!"  laughed  Tom,  and  Eradicate 
also  chuckled  at  the  recollection. 

"That  laugh  will  do  him  more  good  than 
medicine,"  declared  the  doctor,  as  he  took  his 
leave.  "I'll  come  again,  when  I  can  make  a  more 
thorough  examination,"  he  added. 

For  Tom  the  following  days,  that  lengthened 
into  weeks,  were  anxious  ones.  There  was  a  con- 
stant worry  over  Eradicate.  Then,  too,  he  was 
having  trouble  with  his  latest  invention — his 
aerial  fire-fighting  apparatus.  It  was  not  that 
Tom  was  financially  dependent  on  this  invention. 
He  was  wealthy  enough  for  his  needs  from  other 
patented  inventions  he  and  his  father  owned. 

But  Tom  Swift  was  a  lad  not  easily  satisfied. 
Once  embarked  on  an  enterprise,  whether  it  was 


62     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

the  creation  of  a  gigantic  searchlight,  an  electric 
rifle,  a  photo  telephone  or  a  war  tank,  he  never 
rested  until  he  had  brought  it  to  a  successful  con- 
summation. 

But  there  was  something  about  this  chemical 
fire  extinguishing  mixture  that  defied  the  young 
inventor's  best  efforts.  Mixture  after  mixture 
was  tried  and  discarded.  Tom  wanted  something 
better  than  the  usual  carbonate  and  sulphuric 
combination,  and  he  was  not  going  to  rest  until 
he  found  it. 

"I  think  you've  struck  a  blind  lead,  Tom,"  said 
Ned,  more  than  once. 

"Well,  I'm  not  going  to  give  up,"  was  the  firm 
answer. 

"Bless  my  shoe  laces !"  cried  Mr.  Damon,  when 
he  had  called  on  Tom  once  at  the  Baxter  labora- 
tory and  had  been  driven  out,  holding  his  breath, 
because  of  the  chemical  fumes,  "I  should  think 
you  couldn't  even  start  a  fire  with  that  around, 
[Tom,  much  less  need  to  put  one  out." 

"Well,  it  doesn't  seem  to  work,"  said  the  young 
inventor  ruefully.  "Everything  I  do  lately  goes 
wrong." 

"It  is  that  way  sometimes,"  said  Mr.  Baxter. 
"Suppose  you  let  me  study  over  your  formulae  a 
bit,  Mr.  Swift.  I  haven't  given  much  thought  to 
fire  extinguishers,  but  I  may  be  able,  for  that  very 


A  FORCED  LANDING  63 

/eason,  to  approach  the  subject  from  a  new  angle. 
I'll  lay  aside  my  attempt  to  get  back  the  lost 
formulas  and  help  you." 

"I  wish  you  would!"  exclaimed  Tom  eagerly. 
"My  head  is  woozie  from  thinking!  Suppose  I 
leave  you  to  yourself  for  a  time,  Mr.  Baxter  ?j 
I'll  go  for  an  airship  ride." 

"Yes,  do,"  urged  the  chemist.  "Sometimes  a 
change  of  scene  is  of  benefit.  I'll  see  what  I 
can  do  for  you." 

"Will  you  come  along,  Ned — Mr.  Damon?" 
asked  Tom,  as  he  prepared  to  leave  the  improvised 
laboratory,  the  repairs  on  his  own  not  yet  having 
been  finished. 

"Thank  you,  no,"  answered  Ned.  "I  have 
some  collections  to  make." 

"And  I  promised  my  wife  I'd  take  her  riding, 
Tom,"  said  the  jolly,  eccentric  man.  "Bless  my 
umbrella!  she'd  never  forgive  me  if  I  went  off 
with  you.  But  I'll  run  you  to  your  first  stopping 
place,  Ned,  and  you  to  your  hangar,  Tom." 

His  invitation  was  accepted,  and,  in  due  season, 
Tom  was  soaring  aloft  in  one  of  his  speedy  cloud 
craft. 

"Guess  I'll  drop  down  and  get  Mary  Nestor,"j 
he  decided,  after  riding  about  alone  for  a  while 
and  finding  that  the  motor  was  running  sweetly 
and  smoothly.     "She  hasn't  been  out  lately." 


64     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

Tom  made  a  landing  in  a  field  not  far  from  the 
home  of  the  girl  he  hoped  to  marry  some  day, 
and  walked  over  to  her  house. 

"Go  for  a  ride?  I  just  guess  I  will!"  cried 
Mary,  with  sparkling  eyes.  "Just  wait  until  I 
get  on  my  togs." 

She  had  a  leather  suit,  as  had  Tom,  and  they 
were  soon  in  the  machine,  which,  being  equipped 
with  a  self-starter,  did  not  need  the  services  of  a 
mechanician  to  whirl  the  propellers. 

"Oh,  isn't  it  glorious!"  said  Mary,  as  she  sat 
at  Tom's  side.  They  were  in  a  little  enclosed 
cabin  of  the  craft — which  carried  just  two — and, 
thus  enclosed,  they  could  speak  by  raising  their 
voices  somewhat,  for  the  noise  of  the  motor  was 
much  muffled,  due  to  one  of  Tom's  inventions. 

Other  rides  on  other  days  followed  this  one,  for 
[Tom  found  more  rest  and  better  refreshment 
after  his  hours  of  toil  and  study  m  these  rides 
with  Mary  than  in  any  other  way. 

"I  do  love  these  rides,  Tom !"  the  girl  cried  one 
day  when  the  two  were  soaring  aloft.  "And  this 
one  I  really  believe  is  better  than  any  of  the  rest. 
Though  I  always  think  that,"  she  added,  with  a 
slight  laugh. 

"Glad  you  like  it,"  Tom  answered,  and  there 
was  something  in  his  voice  that  caused  Mary  to 
look  curiously  at  him. 


A  FORCED  LANDING  65 

"What's  the  matter,  Tom?"  she  asked.  "Has 
anything  happened?     Is  Rad's  case  hopeless?" 

"Oh,  no,  not  yet.  Of  course  it  isn't  yet  sure 
that  he  will  ever  see  again,  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  isn't  decided  that  he  can't.  It's  a  fifty-fifty 
proposition." 

"But  what  makes  you  so  serious  ?" 

"Was  I?" 

"I  should  say  so!  You  haven't  told  me  one 
funny  thing  that  Mr.  Damon  has  said  lately." 

"Oh,  haven't  I?  Well,  let  me  see  now,"  and 
he  sent  the  machine  up  a  little.  "Well,  the  other 
day  he " 

Tom  suddenly  stopped  speaking  and  began 
rapidly  turning  several  valve  wheels  and  levers. 

"What — what's  the  matter?"  gasped  Mary,  but 
she  did  not  clutch  his  arm.  She  knew  better  than 
that. 

"The  motor  has  stopped,"  Tom  answered,  and 
the  girl  became  aware  of  a  cessation  of  the  sub- 
dued hum. 

"Is  it — does  it  mean  danger  ?"  she  asked. 

"Not  necessarily  so,"  Tom  replied.  "It  means 
we  have  to  make  a  forced  landing,  that's  all.  Sit 
tight!  We're  going  down  rather  faster  than 
usual,  Mary,  but  we'll  come  out  of  it  all  right!" 


CHAPTER  VIII 


STRANGE   TALK 


/here  was  a  rapid  and  sudden  drop.  Mary, 
sitting  beside  Tom  Swift  in  the  speedy  aeroplane, 
watched  with  fascinated  eyes  as  he  quickly 
juggled  with  levers  and  tried  different  valve 
wheels.  The  girl,  through  her  goggles,  had  a 
vision  of  a  landscape  shooting  past  with  the  speed 
of  light.  She  glimpsed  a  brook,  and,  almost  in- 
stantly, they  had  skimmed  over  it. 

A  jar,  a  nerve-racking  tilt  to  one  side,  the 
creaking  of  wood  and  the  rattle  of  metal,  a 
careening,  and  then  the  machine  came  to  a  stop, 
not  exactly  on  a  level  keel,  but  at  least  right  side 
up,  in  the  midst  of  a  wide  field. 

Tom  shut  off  the  gas,  cut  his  spark,  and,  rais- 
ing his  goggles,  looked  down  at  Mary  at  his  side. 

"Scared  ?"  he  asked,  smiling. 

"I  was"  she  frankly  admitted.  "Is  anything 
broken,  Tom?" 

"I  hope  not,"  answered  the  young  inventor. 
"At  least  if  it  is,  the  damage  is  on  the  under  part. 

66 


STRANGE  TALK  &] 

Nothing  visible  up  here.  But  let  me  help  you  out. 
Looks  as  if  we'd  have  to  run  for  it." 

"Run?"  repeated  Mary,  while  proving  that  she 
did  not  exactly  need  help,  for  she  was  getting  out 
of  her  seat  unaided.  "Why?  Is  it  going  to 
catch  fire  ?" 

"No.  But  it's  going  to  rain  soon — and  hard, 
too,  if  I'm  any  judge,"  Tom  said.  "I  don't  be- 
lieve I'll  take  a  chance  trying  to  get  the  machine 
going  again.  We'll  make  for  that  farmhouse  and 
stay  there  until  after  the  storm.  Looks  as  if  we 
could  get  shelter  there,  and  perhaps  a  bit  to  eat. 
I'm  beginning  to  feel  hungry." 

"It  is  going  to  rain!"  decided  Mary,  as  Tom 
helped  her  down  over  the  side  of  the  fusilage. 
"It's  good  we  are  so  near  shelter." 

Tom  did  not  answer.  He  was  making  a  hasty 
but  accurate  observation  of  the  state  of  his  aero- 
plane. The  landing  wheels  had  stood  the  shock 
well,  and  nothing  appeared  to  be  broken. 

"We  came  down  rather  harder  than  I  wanted 
to,"  remarked  Tom,  as  he  crawled  out  after  his 
inspection  of  the  machine.  "Though  I've  made 
worse  forced  landings  than  that." 

"What  caused  it?"  asked  Mary,  glancing 
up  at  the  clouds,  which  were  getting  blacker, 
and  blacker,  and  from  which,  now  and  then, 
vivid  flashes  of  lightning  came  while  low  mut-> 


68     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

terings   of   thunder   rolled   nearer   and   nearer. 

"Something  seemed  to  be  wrong  with  the  car- 
buretor," Tom  answered.  "I  won't  try  to  mon- 
key with  it  now.  Let's  hike  for  that  farmhouse. 
We'll  be  lucky  if  we  don't  get  drenched.  Are  you 
sure  you're  all  right,  Mary?" 

"Certainly,  Tom.  I  can  stand  a  worse  shaking 
up  than  that.  And  you  needn't  think  I  can't  run, 
either !" 

She  proved  this  by  hastening  along  at  Tom's 
side.  And  there  was  need  of  haste,  for  soon 
after  they  left  the  stranded  aeroplane  the  big 
drops  began  to  pert  down,  and  they  reached  the 
house  just  as  the  deluge  came. 

"I  don't  know  this  place,  do  you,  Tom  ?"  asked 
Mary,  as  they  ran  in  through  a  gateway  in  a  fence 
that  surrounded  the  property.  A  path  seemed  to 
lead  all  around  the  old,  rambling  house,  and  there 
was  a  porch  with  a  side  entrance  door.  This,  be- 
ing nearer,  had  been  picked  out  by  the  young  in- 
ventor and  his  friend. 

"No,  I  don't  remember  being  here  before," 
Tom  answered.  "But  I've  passed  the  place  often 
enough  with  Ned  and  Mr.  Damon.  I  guess  they 
won't  refuse  to  let  us  sit  on  the  porch,  and  they 
may  be  induced  to  give  us  a  glass  of  milk  and 
some  sandwiches — that  is,  sell  them  to  us." 

He  and  Mary,  a  little  breathless  from  their  run, 


STRANGE  TALK  Gg 

hastened  up  on  the  porch,  slightly  wet  from  the 
sudden  outburst  of  rain.  As  Tom  knocked  on 
the  door  there  came  a  clap  of  thunder,  following 
a  burst  of  lightning,  that  caused  Mary  to  put  her 
hands  over  her  ears. 

"Guess  they  didn't  hear  that,"  observed  Tom, 
as  the  echoes  of  the  blast  died  away.  "I  mean 
my  knock.  The  thunder  drowned  it.  I'll  try 
again." 

He  took  advantage  of  a  lull  in  the  thundering 
reverberations,  and  tapped  smartly.  The  door 
was  almost  at  once  opened  by  an  aged  woman, 
who  stared  in  some  amazement  at  the  young  peo- 
ple.    Then  she  said : 

"Guests  must  go  to  the  front  door." 

"Guests!"  exclaimed  Tom.  "We  aren't  ex- 
actly guests.  Of  course  we'd  like  to  be  con- 
sidered in  that  light.  But  we've  had  an  accident 
■ — my  aeroplane  stopped  and  we'd  like  to  stay  here 
out  of  the  storm,  and  perhaps  get  something  to 
eat." 

"That  can  be  arranged — yes,"  said  the  old 
woman,  who  spoke  with  a  foreign  accent.  "But 
you  must  go  to  the  front  door.  This  is  the  ser- 
vant's entrance." 

Mary  was  just  thinking  that  they  used  con- 
siderable formality  for  casual  wayfarers,  when 
tbe  situation  dawned  on  Tom  Swift. 


70     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"Is  this  a  restaurant — an  inn?"  he  asked. 

"Yes,"  answered  the  old  woman.  "It  is 
Meadow  Inn.     Please  go  to  the  front  door." 

"All  right,"  Tom  agreed  good-naturedly. 
"I'm  glad  we  struck  the  place,  anyhow." 

The  porch  extended  around  three  sides  of  the 
old,  rambling  house.  Proceeding  along  the 
sheltered  piazza,  Tom  and  Mary  soon  found 
themselves  at  the  front  door.  There  the  nature 
of  the  place  was  at  once  made  plain,  for  on  a 
board  was  lettered  the  words  "Meadow  Inn." 

"I  see  what  has  happened,"  Tom  remarked,  as 
he  opened  the  old-fashioned  ground  glass  door 
and  ushered  Mary  in.  "Some  one  has  taken  the 
old  farmhouse  and  made  it  into  a  roadhouse — a 
wayside  inn.  I  shouldn't  think  such  a  place 
would  pay  out  here;  but  I'm  mighty  glad  we 
struck  it." 

"Yes,  indeed,"  agreed  Mary. 

The  old  farmhouse,  one  of  the  best  of  its  day, 
had  been  transformed  into  a  roadhouse  of  the 
better  class.  On  either  side  of  the  entrance  hall 
were  dining  rooms,  in  which  were  set  small  tables, 
spread  with  snowy  cloths. 

"In  here,  sir,  if  you  please,"  said  a  white- 
aproned  waiter,  gliding  forward  to  take  Tom's 
leather  coat  and  Mary's  jacket  of  like  material. 
The  waiter  ushered  them  into  a  room,  in  which 


STRANGE  TALK  71 

at  first  there  seemed  to  be  no  other  diners.  Then, 
from  behind  a  screen  which  was  pulled  around  a 
table  in  one  corner,  came  the  murmur  of  voices 
and  the  clatter  of  cutlery  on  china,  which  told  of 
some  one  at  a  meal  there. 

"Somebody  is  fond  of  seclusion,"  thought  Tom, 
as  he  and  Mary  took  their  places.  And  as  he 
glanced  over  the  bill  of  fare  his  ears  caught  the 
murmur  of  the  voices  of  two  men  coming  from 
behind  the  screen.  One  voice  was  low  and 
rumbling,  the  other  high-pitched  and  querulous. 

"Talking  business,  probably,"  mused  Tom. 
"What  do  you  feel  like  eating?"  he  asked  Mary. 

"I  wasn't  very  hungry  until  I  came  in,"  she 
answered,  with  a  smile.  "But  it  is  so  cozy  and 
quaint  here,  and  so  clean  and  neat,  that  it  really 
gives  one  an  appetite.  Isn't  it  a  delightful  place, 
Tom?     Did  you  know  it  was  here ?" 

"It  is  very  nice.  And  as  this  is  the  first  I  have 
been  here  for  a  long  while  I  didn't  know,  any 
more  than  you,  that  it  had  been  made  into  a  road- 
house.     But  what  shall  I  order  for  you?" 

"I  should  think  you  would  have  had  enough 
experience  by  this  time,"  laughed  Mary,  for  it 
Was  not  the  first  occasion  that  she  and  Tom  had 
dined  out. 

Thereupon  he  gave  her  order  and  his  own,  too, 
and  they  were  soon  eating  heartily  of  food  that 


72     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

was  in  keeping  with  the  appearance  of  the  place. 

"I  must  bring  Ned  and  Mr.  Damon  here,"  said 
Tom.  "They'll  appreciate  the  quaintness  of  this 
inn,"  for  many  of  the  quaint  appointments  of  the 
old  farmhouse  had  been  retained,  making  it  a 
charming  resort  for  a  meal. 

"Mr.  Damon  will  like  it,"  said  Mary.  "Es- 
pecially the  big  fireplace,"  and  she  pointed  to  one 
on  which  burned  a  blaze  of  hickory  wood. 
"He'll  bless  everything  he  sees." 

"And  cause  the  waiter  to  look  at  me  as  though 
I  had  brought  in  an  escaped  inmate  from  some 
sanitarium,"  laughed  Tom.  "No  use  talking, 
Mr.  Damon  is  delightfully  queer !  Now  what  do 
you  want  for  dessert  ?" 

"Let  me  see  the  card,"  begged  Mary.  "I  fancy 
some  French  pastry,  if  they  have  it." 

Tom  gazed  idly  but  approvingly  about  as  she 
scanned  the  list.  The  sound  of  the  rumbling  and 
the  higher-pitched  voices  had  gone  on  throughout 
the  entire  meal,  and  now,  as  comparative  silence 
filled  the  room,  the  clatter  of  knives  and  forks 
having  ceased,  Tom  heard  more  clearly  what  was 
being  said  behind  the  screen. 

"Well,  I  tell  you  what  it  is,"  said  the  man  whom 
Tom  mentally  dubbed  Mr.  High.  "We  got  out 
of  that  blaze  mighty  luckily !" 

"Yes,"  agreed  he  of  the  rumbly  voice,  whom 


STRANGE  TALK  73 

JTom  thought  of  as  Mr.  Low,  "it  was  a  close 
shave.  If  it  hadn't  been  for  his  chemicals, 
though,  there  would  have  been  a  cleaner  sweep." 

"Indeed  there  would!  I  never  knew  that  any 
of  them  could  act  as  fire  extinguishers." 

Tom  seemed  to  stiffen  at  this,  and  his  hearing 
became  more  acute. 

"They  aren't  really  fire  extinguishers  in  the  real 
sense  of  the  word,"  went  on  the  other  man  be- 
hind the  screen.  "It  must  have  been  some  acci- 
dental combination  of  them.  But  in  spite  of  that 
we  put  it  all  over  Josephus  Baxter  in  that  fire !" 

"What's  this?  What's  this?"  thought  Tom, 
shooting  a  glance  at  Mary  and  noting  that  appar- 
ently she  had  not  heard  what  was  said.  "What 
strange  talk  is  this?" 


CHAPTER  IX 

SUSPICIONS 

"What's  that?"  exclaimed  Mary  Nestor,  giv- 
ing such  a  start  as  she  sat  opposite  Tom  at  the 
restaurant  table  that  she  dropped  the  bill  of  fare 
she  had  been  looking  over. 

A  crash  had  resounded  through  the  room,  but 
it  spoke  well  for  the  state  of  Tom's  nerves  that 
he  gave  no  indication  that  he  had  heard  the  noise. 
It  was  caused  b^  a  waiter  when  he  dropped  a 
plate,  which  was  smashed  into  pieces  on  the  floor. 
The  noise  was  startling  enough  to  excuse  Mary 
for  jumping  in  her  chair,  and  it  seemed  to  put 
an  end  to  the  strange  talk  of  "Mr.  High"  and 
"Mr.  Low"  back  of  the  screen,  for  after  the  crash 
of  china  only  indistinct  murmurs  came  from 
there.  But  Tom  Sw'&k  did  not  cease  to  wonder 
at  the  import  of  the  talk  about  chemicals,  fire, 
and  the  mention  of  the  name  of  Josephus  Baxter. 

"I  think  I'll  try  some  of  those  Murolloas,  as 
they  call  them,  Tom,"  announce^bMary,  having 
made  her  selection  of  the  pastry."  "And  may  I 
have  another  cup  of  tea?" 

74 


SUSPICIONS  75 

"Two  if  you  like,"  answered  the  young  inven- 
tor. "They  say  tea  is  good  for  the  nerves,  and 
you  seem  to  need  something,  judging  by  the  way 
you  jumped  when  that  plate  fell." 

"Oh,  Tom,  that  isn't  fair !  After  the  way  we 
had  to  come  down  in  your  'plane !"  objected  Mary. 

"That's  right !"  he  conceded.  "I  forgot  about 
that.     My  fault,  entirely !" 

Mary  smiled,  and  seemed  to  have  regained  her 
composure.  Tom  glanced  at  her  anxiously,  not 
because  of  what  he  thought  might  be  the  state  of 
her  nerves,  but  to  see  if  she  had  sensed  anything 
the  two  men  behind  the  screen  had  said.  But  the 
girl  gave  no  indication  that  her  mind  had  been  oc- 
cupied with  anything  more  than  the  selection  of 
her  dessert. 

"I  wonder  who  they  are,  and  what  they  meant 
by  that  talk,"  mused  Tom,  as  the  waiter  served 
the  Murolloas  to  him  and  Mary.  "Poor  Baxter ! 
It  looks  as  if  he  might  have  more  enemies  than 
the  fireworks  men  he  accuses  of  having  taken  his 
valuable  formulas.  I  must  see  him  soon,  and 
have  a  talk  with  him.  Yes,  I  must  make  a  special 
point  to  see  Josephus  Baxter.  But  first  I'd  like 
to  have  a  glimpse  of  these  men." 

Tom's  wish  in  this  respect  was  soon  gratified, 
for  before  he  and  Mary  had  finished  their  pastry 
and  tea  there  was  a  scraping  of  chairs  back  of 


j6     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

the  sheltering  screen,  and  the  two  men,  "Mr. 
Low"  and  "Mr.  High,"  who  had  finished  their 
meal,  came  forth. 

Tom's  judgment  as  to  the  statures  of  the  men, 
based  on  the  quality  of  their  voices,  was  not  ex- 
actly borne  out.  For  it  was  the  big  man  who  had 
the  high  pitched,  squeaky  voice,  and  the  little  man 
who  had  the  deep,  rumbling  tones. 

They  passed  out,  without  more  than  a  glance 
at  Tom  and  his  companion,  but  the  young  inven- 
tor peered  at  them  sharply.  As  far  as  he  could 
tell  he  had  seen  neither  of  them  before,  though  he 
had  an  idea  of  their  identity. 

Tom  took  the  chance  to  make  certain  this  con- 
jecture when  Mary  left  her  seat,  announcing  that 
she  was  going  to  the  ladies'  parlor  to  arrange  her 
hair,  which  the  run  to  escape  from  the  rain  had 
disarranged. 

"Some  storm,"  Tom  observed  to  the  waiter, 
who  came  up  when  the  young  inventor  indicated 
that  he  wanted  his  check. 

"Yes,  sir,  it  came  suddenly.  Hope  you  didn't 
have  to  change  a  tire  in  it,  sir." 

"No,  my  machine  isn't  that  kind,"  replied  Tom, 
as  he  handed  out  a  generous  tip.  "If  I  need  a 
new  tire  I  generally  need  a  whole  new  outfit." 

"Oh,  then "  Obviously  the  man  was  puz- 
zled. 


SUSPICIONS  jy 

"We  came  in  an  aeroplane,"  Tom  explained. 
"But  we  had  to  make  a  forced  landing.  Is  there 
a  garage  near  here?  I  may  need  some  help 
getting  started." 

"We  accommodate  a  few  cars  in  what  was  once 
the  barn,  and  we  have  a  good  mechanic,  sir.  If 
you'd  like  to  see  him " 

"I  would,"  interrupted  Tom.  "Tell  the  young 
lady  to  wait  here  for  me.  I'll  see  if  I  can  get  the 
Scud  to  work.  If  not,  I'll  have  to  telephone  to 
town  for  a  taxi.  Did  those  men  who  just  left 
come  in  a  car?"  and  he  nodded  in  the  direction 
taken  by  the  two  who  had  dined  behind  the  screen. 

"Yes,  sir.  And  they  had  engine  trouble,  I  be- 
lieve.    Our  man  fixed  up  their  machine." 

"Then  he's  the  chap  I  want  to  see,"  thought 
Tom.  "I'll  have  a  talk  with  him."  He  reasoned 
that  he  could  get  more  about  the  identity  of  the 
two  mysterious  men  from  the  mechanic  than  from 
the  waiter.     Nor  was  he  wrong  in  this  surmise. 

"Oh,  them  two  fellers !"  exclaimed  the  mecha- 
nician, after  he  had  agreed  to  go  with  Tom  to 
where  the  airship  Scud  was  stalled.  "They  come 
from  over  Shopton  way.  They  own  a  fireworks 
factory — or  they  did,  before  it  burned." 

"Are  they  Field  and  Melling?"  asked  Tom,  try- 
ing not  to  let  any  excitement  betray  itself  in  his 
voice. 


78     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS. 

"That's  the  names  they  gave  me,"  said  the  man. 
"Little  man's  Field.  He  gave  me  his  card.  I'm 
going  to  get  a  job  overhauling  his  car.  There 
isn't  enough  work  here  to  keep  a  man  busy,  and 
I  told  'em  I  could  do  a  little  on  the  outside.  This 
place  just  started,  and  not  many  folks  know  about 
it  yet." 

"So  I  judge,"  Tom  said.  "Well,  I'll  be  glad  to 
have  you  give  me  a  hand.  I  fancy  the  carbu- 
retor is  out  of  order." 

And  this,  when  the  young  inventor  and  the 
mechanician  from  Meadow  Inn  reached  the 
stranded  Scud,  was  found  to  be  the  case.  The 
storm  had  passed,  and  Mary  told  Tom  she  would 
not  mind  waiting  at  the  Inn  until  he  found 
whether  or  not  he  could  get  his  air  craft  in  work- 
ing order. 

"There  you  are!  That's  the  trouble!"  ex- 
claimed the  mechanician,  as  he  took  something  out 
of  the  carburetor.  "A  bit  of  rubber  washer 
choked  the  needle  valve." 

"Glad  you  found  it,"  said  Tom  heartily. 
"Now  I  guess  we  can  ride  back." 

While  preparations  were  being  made  to  test  the 
Scud  after  the  carburetor  had  been  reassembled, 
Tom's  mind  was  busy  with  many  thoughts,  and 
chief  among  them  were  suspicions  concerning 
Field  and  Melling. 


SUSPICIONS  yg 

"If  their  talk  meant  anything  at  all,"  reasoned 
the  young  inventor,  "it  meant  that  there  was  some 
deal  in  which  Josephus  Baxter  got  the  worst  of 
it  Tutting  it  over  on  him  in  the  fire/  could  only 
mean  that.  Of  course  it  isn't  any  of  my  business, 
in  a  way,  but  I  don't  think  it  is  right  to  stand  by 
and  see  a  fellow  inventor  defrauded. 

"Of  course,"  mused  Tom,  while  his  helper  put 
the  finishing  touches  to  the  carburetor,  "it  may 
have  been  a  business  deal  in  which  one  took  as 
many  chances  as  the  other.  There  are  always 
two  sides  to  every  story.  Baxter  says  they  took 
his  formulas,  but  he  may  have  taken  something 
from  them  to  make  it  even.  The  only  thing  is 
that  I'd  trust  Baxter  sooner  than  I  would  those 
two  fellows,  and  he  certainly  had  a  narrow  squeak 
at  the  fire. 

"But  I  have  my  own  troubles,  I  guess,  trying  to 
perfect  that  fire-fighting  chemical,  and  I  haven't 
much  time  to  bother  with  Field  and  Melling,  un- 
less they  come  my  way." 

"There,  I  reckon  she'll  work,"  said  the  mecha- 
nician, as  he  fastened  the  last  valve  in  the  carbu- 
retor. "It  was  an  easier  job  than  I  expected. 
[Wasn't  as  much  trouble  as  I  had  over  their  car-- 
those  two  fellers  you  were  speaking  of — Field  and 
Melling.     They're  rich  guys !" 

-"Yes  £"  replied  Tom,  questioningly. 


80     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"Sure!  They've  started  a  big  dye  com- 
pany." 

"A  dye  company?"  repeated  the  young  inven- 
tor, all  his  suspicions  coming  back  as  he  recalled 
that  Baxter  had  said  his  formulae  were  more 
valuable  for  dyes  than  for  fireworks. 

"Yes,  they're  trying  to  get  the  business  that 
used  to  go  to  the  Germans  before  the  war,"  went 
on  the  man. 

"Yes,  the  Germans  used  to  have  a  monopoly 
of  the  dye  industry,"  said  Tom,  hoping  the  man 
would  talk  on.  He  need  not  have  worried.  He 
was  of  the  talkative  type. 

"Well,  if  these  fellers  have  their  way  they'll 
make  a  million  in  dyes,"  proceeded  the  mecha- 
nician, as  he  stepped  down  out  of  the  airship. 
"They've  built  a  big  plant,  and  they  have  offices 
in  the  Landmark  Building." 

"Where's  that?"  asked  Tom. 

"Over  in  Newmarket,"  the  man  went  on,  nam- 
ing the  nearest  large  city  to  Shopton.  "The 
Landmark  Building  is  a  regular  New  York  sky- 
scraper.    Haven't  you  seen  it  ?" 

"No,"  Tom  answered,  "I  haven't.  Been  too 
busy,  I  guess.  So  Field  and  Melling  have  their 
offices  there  ?" 

"Yes,  and  a  big  plant  on  the  outskirts  for  mak- 
ing dyes.     They  half  offered  me  a  job  at  the  fac- 


SUSPICIONS  81 

tory,  but  I  thought  I'd  try  this  out  first;  I  like  it 
here." 

"It  is  a  nice  place,"  agreed  Tom.  "Well,  now 
let's  see  if  she'll  work,"  and  he  nodded  at  the 
Scud. 

It  needed  but  a  short  test  to  demonstrate  this, 
and  soon  Tom  went  back  to  the  Inn  for  Mary. 

"Are  you  sure  we  shall  not  have  to  make  an- 
other forced  landing?"  she  asked  with  a  smile,  as 
she  took  her  place  in  the  cockpit. 

"You  can't  guarantee  anything  about  an  aero- 
plane," said  Tom.  "But  everything  is  in  our 
favor,  and  if  we  do  have  to  come  down  I  have  a 
better  landing  field  than  this."  He  glanced  over 
the  meadow  near  the  wayside  inn. 

"I  suppose  I'll  have  to  take  a  chance,"  said 
Mary. 

However,  neither  of  them  need  have  worried, 
for  the  Scud  tried,  evidently,  to  redeem  herself, 
and  flew  back  to  Shopton  without  a  hitch.  After 
making  sure  that  his  engine  was  running 
smoothly,  Tom  found  his  mind  more  at  ease,  and 
again  he  caught  himself  casting  about  to  find 
some  basis  for  his  suspicious  thoughts  regarding 
the  two  men  who  had  talked  behind  the  screen. 

"What  is  their  game?"  Tom  found  himself 
asking  himself  over  and  over  again.  "What  did 
they  'put  over'  on  poor  Baxter?" 


82     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

Tom  had  a  chance  to  find  out  more  about  this, 
or  at  least  start  on  the  trail  sooner  than  he  ex- 
pected. For  when  he  landed  he  saw  Koku,  the 
giant,  coming  toward  him  with  an  appearance  of 
excitement. 

"Is  Rad  worse?  Is  there  more  trouble  witK 
his  eyes?"  asked  the  young  inventor. 

"No,  him  not  much  too  bad,"  answered  Koku. 
"I  keep  him  good  as  I  can.  He  sleep  now,  so  I 
come  out  to  swallow  some  fresh  air.  But  man 
come  to  see  you — much  mad  man." 

"Mad?"  queried  Tom. 

"Well,  what  you  say — angry,"  went  on  Koku. 
"Man  what  was  in  Roman  Skycracker  blaze." 

"Oh,  you  mean  Mr.  Baxter,  who  was  in  the 
fireworks  blaze,"  translated  Tom.  "Where  is  he, 
and  what's  the  matter  ?" 


CHAPTER  X 


ANOTHER   ATTEMPT 


Koku  managed  to  make  Tom  understand  that 
the  dye  inventor  was  in  the  main  office  of  the 
Swift  plant  talking  to  Tom's  father.  The  young 
inventor  sent  Mary  home  in  his  electric  runabout 
in  company  with  Ned  Newton,  who,  fortunately, 
happened  along  just  then,  and  hurried  to  his  office. 

"Oh,  Tom,  I'm  glad  you  have  arrived,"  said  his 
father.     "You  remember  Mr.  Baxter,  of  course." 

"I  should  hope  so,"  Tom  answered,  extending 
his  hand.  He  noticed  that  the  man  whom  he  had 
helped  save  from  the  fireworks  blaze  was  under; 
the  stress  of  some  excitement. 

"I  hope  he  hasn't  been  getting  on  dad's  nerves," 
thought  Tom,  as  he  took  a  seat.  The  elder  Mr. 
Swift  had  been  quite  ill,  and  it  was  thought  for 
a  time  that  he  would  have  to  give  up  helping  Tom. 
But  there  had  been  a  turn  for  the  better,  and  the 
aged  inventor  had  again  taken  his  place  in  the 
laboratory,  though  he  was  frail. 

"ghat's  the  trouble  now?"  asked  Tom.  "At 
83 


84     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

least  I  assume  there  has  been  some  trouble,"  he 
went  on.     "If  I  am  wrong " 

"No,  you  are  right,  unfortunately,"  said  Mr. 
Baxter  gloomily.  "The  trouble  is  that  every- 
thing I  do  is  a  failure.  Up  to  a  little  while  ago 
I  thought  I  might  succeed,  in  spite  of  Field  and 
Melling's  theft  of  the  formulae  from  me.  I 
made  a  purple  dye  the  other  day,  and  tested  it  to- 
day. It  was  a  miserable  failure,  and  it  got  on  my 
nerves.     I  came  to  see  if  you  could  help  me." 

"In  what  way?'5  asked  Tom,  wondering 
whether  or  not  he  had  best  tell  Mr.  Baxter  what 
he  had  overheard  at  the  Inn. 

"Well,  I  need  better  laboratory  facilities,"  the 
man  went  on.  "I  know  you  have  been  very  kind 
to  me,  Mr.  Swift,  and  it  seems  like  an  imposi- 
tion to  ask  for  more.  But  I  need  a  different  lot 
of  chemicals,  and  they  cost  money.  I  also  need 
some  different  apparatus.  You  have  it  in  your 
big  laboratory.  That  wouldn't  cost  you  any- 
thing. But  of  course  to  go  out  and  buy  what  I 
need " 

"Oh  I  guess  we  can  stand  that,  can't  we,  Dad  ?" 
asked  Tom,  with  a  genial  smile.  "You  may  have 
free  access  to  our  big  laboratory,  Mr.  Baxter,  and 
I'll  see  that  you  get  what  chemicals  you  need." 

"Oh,  thank  you!"  exclaimed  the  inventor. 
"Now  I  believe  I  shall  succeed  in  spite  of  those 


\ 

ANOTHER  ATTEMPT  85 

rascals.  Just  think,  Mr.  Swift!  They  have 
started  a  big  new  dye  factory." 

"So  I  have  heard,"  replied  Tom. 

"And  I'm  almost  sure  they're  using  the  secret 
formulae  they  stole  from  me!"  exclaimed  Mr. 
Baxter.  "But  I'll  get  the  best  of  them  yet !  I'll 
invent  a  better  dye  than  they  ever  can,  even  if 
they  use  the  secrets  the  old  Frenchman  gave  me. 
All  I  need  is  a  better  place  to  work  and  all  the 
chemicals  at  my  disposal." 

"Then  we'll  try  to  help  you,"  offered  Tom. 

"And  if  I  can  do  anything  let  me  know,"  put 
in  Mr.  Swift.  "I  shall  be  glad  to  get  in  the  har- 
ness again,  Tom !"  he  added. 

"Well,  if  you're  so  anxious  to  work,  Dad,  why 
not  give  me  a  hand  with  my  fire  extinguisher 
chemical  ?"  asked  Tom.  "I  haven't  been  able  to 
hit  on  the  solution,  somehow  or  other." 

"Perhaps  I  may  be  able  to  give  you  a  hint  or 
two  after  I  get  settled  down,"  suggested  Mr. 
Baxter. 

"I  shall  be  glad  of  any  assistance  you  can  give," 
replied  Tom  Swift.  "And  now  I'm  going  to  start 
right  in.  Dad,  you  can  make  the  arrangements 
for  Mr.  Baxter  to  use  our  big  laboratory.  And 
let  him  have  credit  for  any  chemicals  he  needs. 
Have  them  put  on  my  bill,  for  I  am  buying  a  lot 
myself." 


86     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS. 

"I'll  never  forget  this/'  said  Mr.  Baxter,  and 
there  were  tears  in  his  eyes  as  he  shook  hands 
with  Tom,  who  tried  to  make  light  of  his  generous 
act. 

Tom,  after  the  wrecking  of  his  laboratory,  in 
which  accident  poor  Eradicate  was  injured,  had 
built  himself  another — two  others,  in  fact,  after 
having  shared  Mr.  Baxter's  temporary  one  for  a 
time.  Tom  put  up  the  most  completely  equipped 
laboratory  that  could  be  devised,  and  he  also 
erected  a  smaller  one  for  his  own  personal  use,  the 
main  one  being  at  the  disposal  of  his  father  and 
the  various  heads  of  the  different  departments  of 
the  Shopton  plant. 

The  little  conference  broke  up,  and  Tom  was 
on  his  way  to  his  own  special  private  laboratory 
when  there  came  the  sound  of  some  excitement 
in  the  corridor  outside  and  Mr.  Damon  burst  in. 

"Bless  my  accident  policy,  Tom !  what's  this  I 
hear  ?"  he  asked,  all  in  a  fluster. 

"I'm  sure  I  don't  know,"  answered  the  young 
inventor,  with  a  smile.     "What  about  ?" 

"About  you  and  Mary  Nestor  being  killed!" 
burst  out  Mr.  Damon.  "I  heard  you  fell  in  the 
aeroplane  and  were  both  dashed  to  pieces !" 

"If  you  can  believe  the  evidence  of  your  own 
eyes,  I'm  far  from  being  in  that  state,"  laughed 


ANOTHER  ATTEMPT  87 

4 

iTom.  "And  as  for  Mary,  she  just  left  here  with 
Ned  Newton." 

"Thank  goodness !"  sighed  Mr.  Damon,  sinking 
into  a  chair.  "Bless  my  elevator  S  I  rushed  over 
as  soon  as  I  heard  the  news,  and  I  was  almost 
afraid  to  come  in.     I'm  so  glad  it  didn't  happen !" 

"No  gladder  than  I,"  said  Tom.  "We  had  to 
make  a  forced  landing,  that  was  all,"  and  he  made 
as  light  of  the  incident  as  possible  when  he  saw 
the  look  of  terror  in  his  father's  eyes. 

"Some  people  in  Waterford  saw  you  going 
down,"  went  on  Mr.  Damon,  "and  they  told  me." 

"It  was  a  false  alarm,"  replied  Tom.  "And 
now,  Mr.  Damon,  if  you  want  to  smell  some  per- 
fumes come  with  me." 

"Are  you  going  into  that  line,  Tom  ?"  asked  the 
eccentric  man.  "Bless  my  handkerchief,  my  wife 
will  be  glad  of  that!" 

"I  mean  I'm  going  to  experiment  some  more 
with  fire-extinguishing  chemicals,"  laughed  the 
young  inventor.     "If  you  want  to " 

"Bless  my  gas  mask,  I  should  say  not!"  cried 
Mr.  Damon.  "I  don't  see  how  you  stand  those 
odors,  Tom  Swift." 

"Guess  I'm  used  to  'em,"  was  the  answer. 
And  then,  leaving  his  father  to  entertain  Mr. 
Damon  and  to  make  arrangements  for  Mr.  Bax- 


88     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

ter's  use  of  the  main  laboratory,  he  betook 
himself  to  his  own  private  quarters. 

The  next  week  or  so  was  a  busy  time  for  Tom ; 
so  busy,  in  fact,  that  he  had  little  chance  to  see 
Mr.  Baxter.  All  he  knew  was  that  the  unfortu- 
nate man  was  also  laboring  in  his  own  line,  and 
Tom  wished  him  success.  He  knew  that  if  the 
man  made  any  discoveries  that  would  help  with 
the  fire-extinguishing  fluid  he  would  report,  as  he 
had  promised. 

"Well,  Tom,  how  goes  it?"  asked  Ned  one  day 
when  he  came  over  to  call  on  his  chum.  "Are 
you  ready  to  accept  contracts  for  putting  out  sky- 
scraper blazes  in  all  big  cities?" 

"Not  yet,"  was  the  answer.  "But  I'm  going  to 
make  another  attempt,  Ned." 

"You  mean  another  experiment?" 

"Yes,  I  have  evolved  a  new  combination  of 
chemicals,  using  something  of  the  carbonate  idea 
as  a  basis.  I  found  that  I  couldn't  get  away 
from  that,  much  as  I  wanted  to.  But  my  appli- 
cation is  entirely  new,  at  least  I  hope  it  will  prove 
so." 

"When  are  you  going  to  try  it?"  asked  Ned. 

"Right  away.  All  I  have  to  do  is  to  put  the 
chemicals  in  the  metal  tank." 

"Then  I'd  better  get  my  leather  suit  on,"  re- 
marked Ned,  starting  to  take  off  his  street  coat 


ANOTHER  ATTEMPT  89 

Tom  kept  for  his  chum  a  full  outfit  of  flying  gar- 
ments, one  suit  being  electrically  heated. 

"Oh,  we  aren't  going  up  in  any  airship,"  Tom 
said. 

"Why,  I  thought  you  were  going  to  test  your 
aerial  fire  fighting  dingus!"  exclaimed  Ned. 

"So  I  am.  But  I  want  to  stay  on  the  ground 
and  watch  the  effect  on  the  blaze  as  the  tank 
bursts  and  scatters  the  chemical  fluid." 

"Then  you  want  me,  and  perhaps  Mr.  Damon, 
to  take  the  stuff  up  in  the  machine  ?  Excuse  me. 
I  don't  believe  I  care  to  run  an  airship  myself." 

"No,"  went  on  Tom,  "there  isn't  any  question 
of  an  airship  this  time.  No  one  is  going  up. 
Come  on  out  into  the  yard  and  I'll  show  you." 

Ned  Newton  followed  his  chum  out  into  the 
big  yard  near  one  of  the  shops.  Erected  in  it, 
and  evidently  a  new  structure,  was  a  large  wooden 
scaffold  in  square  tower  shape  with  a  long  over- 
hanging arm  and  a  platform  on  the  extremity. 
Beneath  it  was  a  pit  dug  in  the  earth,  and  in  this 
pit,  which  was  directly  under  the  outstanding 
arm  of  the  tower,  was  a  pile  of  wood  and  shav- 
ings, oil-soaked. 

"Oh,  I  see  the  game,"  remarked  Ned.  "You're 
going  to  drop  the  stuff  from  this  height  instead 
of  doing  it  from  an  airship." 

"Yes,"  Tom  answered.     "There  will  be  time 


90     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

enough  to  go  on  with  the  airship  end  of  it  after 
I  get  the  right  combination  of  chemicals.  And  by 
having  a  metal  container  with  the  stuff  in  dropped 
from  this  frame  work,  I  can  station  myself  as 
near  the  burning  pit  as  I  can  get  and  watch  what 
happens." 

"It's  a  good  idea,"  decided  Ned.  "I  wonder; 
you  didn't  try  that  before." 

"Mr.  Baxter  suggested  it,"  replied  Tom.: 
"That  helpful  idea  more  than  pays  me  for  what 
I  have  done  for  him.  So  now,  if  you're  ready, 
I'd  like  to  have  you  watch  with  me  and  make  some 
notes,  one  of  us  on  one  side  of  the  pit,  and  one 
on  the  other.  There  are  always  two  sides  to  a 
fire,  the  leeward  and  the  windward,  and  I  want 
to  see  how  my  chemicals  act  in  both  positions." 

"I'm  with  you,"  said  Ned.  "Who's  going  to 
drop  the  stuff — Koku?" 

"No,  he  is  a  bit  too  heavy  for  the  frame  work, 
which  I  had  put  up  in  a  hurry.  I'd  have  Rad  do 
it,  but  he's  out  of  the  game." 

"Poor  old  Rad!"  murmured  Ned.  "Do  you 
think  he'll  ever  get  better,  Tom?" 

"I  don't  know,"  sighed  the  young  inventor. 
"All  I  can  do  is  to  hope.  He  is  very  patient,  and 
Koku  is  devoted  to  him.  All  their  little  bicker- 
ings and  squabbles  seem  to  have  been  forgotten." 

^om  called  some  of  his  workmen,  some  of 


ANOTHER  ATTEMPT 


91 


them  to  start  the  blaze  of  inflammable  material  in 
the  pit,  while  one  climbed  up  to  the  top  of  the 
tower  of  scantlings  and  made  his  way  out  on  the 
extended  arm,  where  there  was  a  little  platform 
for  him  to  stand  until  it  was  time  to  drop  the 
chemicals. 

"Light  her  up !"  cried  Tom  Swift,  and  a  match 
was  thrown  in  among  the  oiled  wood.  In  an 
instant  a  fierce  blaze  shot  up,  as  hot,  in  propor- 
tion, as  would  come  from  any  burning  building. 

For  the  second  time  Tom  was  about  to  make  a 
test  on  a  fairly  large  scale  of  his  experimental 
extinguisher  mixture. 

"All  ready  up  there?"  he  called  to  his  helper 
perched  high  in  the  air. 

"All  ready!"  came  back  the  answer  above  the 
roar  and  crackle  of  the  flames  that  made  Tom  and 
Ned  step  back. 

Would  success  or  failure  attend  the  young  in- 
ventor's project? 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE    BLAZING   TREE 


Tom  Swift  hesitated  a  moment  before  giving 
the  final  word  that  would  send  the  metal  container 
of  powerful  chemicals  down  into  the  midst  of  the 
crackling  flames.  He  wanted  to  make  sure,  in 
his  own  mind,  that  he  had  done  everything  possi- 
ble to  insure  the  success  of  his  undertaking.  The 
young  inventor  never  attempted  the  solution  of 
any  problem  without  going  into  it  with  his 
whole  energy.  So  he  wanted  this  experiment  to 
succeed. 

He  quickly  reviewed,  mentally,  the  composi- 
tion of  the  chemical  compound.  He  had  made 
it  as  strong  as  possible,  and  he  had  spared  no  pains 
to  insure  a  hot  fire,  so  that  the  test  would  not  be 
too  simple. 

"What's  the  matter,  Tom  ?"  asked  Ned,  as  his 
chum  appeared  to  hesitate  about  giving  the  word 
that  would  send  the  chemicals  hurtling  down  into 
the  fire. 

"Nothing.  I  was  just  making  sure  I  hadn't 
92 


THE  BLAZING  TREE  93 

forgotten  anything,"  Tom  answered.  "I  guess 
I  haven't," 

He  paused  a  moment,  looked  up  at  his  assistant 
on  the  overhanging  arm  of  the  tower,  glanced 
down  at  the  flames,  now  at  their  height,  and  then 
suddenly  cried : 

"Let  her  go!" 

"Right !"  came  back  the  man's  voice,  and  then 
a  dark  object,  like  a  bomb,  was  seen  descending 
from  the  skeleton  framework  above  the  flames. 

There  was  a  scattering  of  the  fire  in  the  pit  as 
the  extinguisher  bomb  fell  among  the  blazing 
embers.  Then  followed  a  slight  explosion  when 
the  bomb  broke,  as  it  was  intended  it  should. 

Tom  and  Ned  leaned  forward  to  peer  through 
the  pall  of  smoke  which  swirled  this  way  and 
that.  Here  was  to  come  the  real  test  of  the 
device.  Would  the  fumes  of  the  liberated  chemi- 
cals choke  the  fire,  or  would  it  burn  on  in  spite 
of  them?  That  was  the  question  to  be  settled 
for  Tom  Swift. 

Almost  immediately  he  had  his  answer.  For 
after  a  fierce  burst  of  the  tongues  of  fire  following 
the  fall  of  the  bomb,  there  was  a  distinct  dying 
down  of  the  conflagration  in  the  pit.  Great 
clouds  of  smoke  arose,  but  the  fire  was  quenched 
in  a  great  measure,  and  as  the  fire-blanketing  gas 
continued  to  be  generated   from  the  chemicals 


94     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

liberated  from  the  bomb,  there  was  a  further 
dying  down  of  the  crackling  fire. 

"Tom,  you've  struck  it !"  yelled  Ned  in  delight. 
"You  have  the  right  combination  this  time !" 

Tom  did  not  answer.  He  leaned  forward  and 
looked  eagerly  down  into  the  pit.  He  was  about 
to  join  with  Ned  in  agreeing  that  he  had,  indeed, 
solved  the  problem,  when,  to  his  surprise,  the 
flames  started  up  again. 

"What's  this?"  asked  the  young  financial 
manager.  "Are  you  going  to  have  a  second  test, 
[Tom?" 

"Not  that  I  know  of,"  was  the  puzzled  answer. 
"I  don't  exactly  understand  this  myself,  Ned. 
By  all  calculations  this  fire  ought  to  have  died  a 
natural  death,  but  now  it  is  breaking  out  again. 
I  think  what  must  have  happened  is  that  a 
quantity  of  the  oil  they  poured  on  collected  in  a 
pool  and  didn't  get  all  the  effects  of  the  chem- 
icals from  the  bomb.  ^Then  the  oil  started  to 
blaze." 

"What  can  you  do  about  it  ?"  Ned  wanted  to 
know. 

"Oh,  I've  got  another  bomb  up  there,"  and 
Tom  pointed  to  his  helper  who  was  still  perched 
on  the  overhanging  arm.  "I  was  prepared  for 
some  such  emergency  as  this.  Drop  the  other 
one!"  Tom  yelled,  and  again  a  dark  object  fell, 


THE  BLAZING  TREE  95 

bursting  in  the  pit  and  again  liberating  the  gas 
that  was  supposed  to  choke  any  fire. 

The  flames  that  had  started  up  for  the  second 
time  instantly  died  down,  and  Ned,  leaning  over 
the  edge  of  the  pit,  cried : 

"Hurray,  Tom !     That  does  the  business !" 

But  the  3^oung  inventor  shook  his  head. 

"I'm  not  quite  satisfied,"  he  remarked.  "It 
didn't  work  quickly  enough.  What  I  want  is  a 
chemical  combination  that  will  choke  the  fire  off 
first  shot." 

"Well,  you  pretty  nearly  have  it,"  observed 
Ned. 

"Yes.  But  'good  enough'  isn't  what  I  want," 
Tom  said.  "I've  got  to  work  on  that  chemical 
compound  again.  I  think  I  know  where  I  can 
improve  it." 

"Well,  if  I  were  a  fire,  and  I  had  this  happen 
to  me,"  remarked  Ned,  laughing  and  pointing  to 
the  heap  of  blackened  embers  in  the  pit,  "I  should 
feel  very  much  discouraged." 

"But  not  enough,"  declared  Tom.  "I  want 
the  fire  to  be  out  more  quickly  than  this  one  was. 
I  think  I  can  improve  that  chemical  compound, 
and  I'm  going  to  do  it." 

"All  right !  Come  on  down !"  he  called  to  his 
helper,  who  was  still  perched  on  the  overhanging 
arm.     "We  won't  do  any  more  to-day." 


96     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"What  is  your  next  move?"  asked  Ned,  as  Tom 
started  for  his  small,  private  laboratory. 

"Oh,  I'm  going  to  fiddle  around  among  those 
sweet-smelling  chemicals,"  answered  the  young 
inventor. 

"Bless  my  vest  buttons!  then  I'm  not  coming 
in,"  exclaimed  a  voice  which  could  proceed  from 
none  other  than  Mr.  Damon.  And  he  it  proved 
to  be.  He  had  driven  over  from  Water  ford  in 
his  automobile  and  had  arrived  just  as  the  fire 
test  was  concluded. 

"Oh,  come  on  in!"  called  Tom.  "You  can 
visit  with  dad,  and  Eradicate  will  be  glad  to  see 
you." 

"Poor  Rad !  How  is  he  ?"  asked  Mr.  Damon, 
walking  along  with  Tom  and  Ned. 

"No  change,"  was  the  sad  answer  of  the  young 
inventor,  for  he  felt  responsible  for  the  mishap 
to  the  colored  man.  "They  can't  operate  on  his 
eyes  yet." 

"And  when  they  do  will  he  be  able  to  see?" 
asked  Mr.  Damon. 

"That  is  what  we  are  all  hoping,"  answered 
Tom  with  a  sigh.  "But  do  go  in  to  see  him,  Mr. 
Damon.     It  will  cheer  him  up." 

"I  will,"  promised  the  eccentric  man.  "At 
any  rate  I'll  not  venture  near  your  perfume  shop, 
Tom  Swift!" 


THE  BLAZING  TREE  gj 

"And  I  don't  see  that  I  can  be  of  any  service/' 
added  Ned,  "so  I'm  off  to  my  work." 

"All  right,"  assented  Tom.  "I've  got  several 
new  schemes  to  try.  Some  of  them  ought  to 
work." 

Tom  Swift  Tva.j  very  busy  for  the  next  few 
days — so  busy,  in  fact,  that  even  Mary  saw  little 
of  him.  He  was  closeted  with  Mr.  Baxter  more 
than  once,  and  that  individual  seemed  to  lose 
some  of  his  bitter  feelings  over  the  loss  of  his 
formulae  as  he  found  he  could  be  of  service  to 
the  young  inventor.  For  he  was  of  service  in 
suggesting  new  ways  of  combining  fire-fighting 
chemicals,  gained  by  his  association  with  the  fire- 
works concern. 

"And  that's  about  all  the  benefit  I  derived  from 
being  with  those  scoundrels,  Field  and  Melling," 
said  Mr.  Baxter  gloomily. 

"You  still  think  they  took  your  dye  formulae?" 
asked  Tom. 

"I'm  positive  of  it,  but  I  can't  prove  any- 
thing. They  threatened  to  get  the  best  of  me 
when  I  would  not  sell  them,  for  a  ridiculously 
low  sum,  an  interest  in  the  secrets.  And  I  be- 
lieve they  did  get  the  best  of  me  during  that 
fire." 

"I  believe  the  same !"  exclaimed  Tom. 

"How  is  that?    What  do  you  know?    Can 


98     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

you  help  me  prove  anything  against  them?'* 
eagerly  asked  the  chemist. 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  answered  Tom  slowly. 
«T11  tell  you  what  I  heard." 

Thereupon  he  related  the  conversation  he  had 
overheard  while  with  Mary  at  the  wayside  inn. 
The  eyes  of  Josephus  Baxter  gleamed  as  he 
listened  to  this  recital. 

"So  that  was  their  game !"  he  cried,  as  he  smote 
the  table  with  his  fist,  thereby  nearly  upsetting  a 
test  tube  of  acid,  which  Tom  caught  just  in  time. 
"I  knew  something  crooked  was  going  on,  and 
they  thought  I'd  be  so  badly  overcome  in  the  fire 
that  I  wouldn't  know,  or  wouldn't  remember, 
what  happened." 

"What  did  happen  ?"  asked  Tom.  "All  I  know 
is  that  you  were  overcome  in  the  laboratory 
room." 

"It's  too  long  a  story  to  tell  in  detail  now," 
said  Mr.  Baxter.  "But  the  main  facts  are  that 
through  misrepresentations  I  was  induced  to  as- 
sociate myself  with  Field  and  Melling.  They  had 
a  good  factory  for  the  making  of  fireworks,  and 
some  of  the  chemicals  used  in  that  industry  also 
enter  into  the  manufacture  of  the  kind  of  dyes  I 
have  in  mind  to  make.  So  I  associated  myself 
with  them,  they  agreeing  to  let  me  use  their 
laboratory. 


THE  BLAZING  TREE  g$ 

"One  night  they  came  to  see  me  as  I  was 
working  there  over  my  formulas.  They  pre- 
tended to  have  discovered  something  ii\  an  ex- 
pired patent  that  nullified  what  I  had.  I  did  not 
believe  this  to  be  so,  and  I  brought  out  my  for- 
mulae to  compare  with  theirs — or  what  they  said 
they  had.  The  next  thing  I  remember  was  that 
the  fire  broke  out  and  my  formulas  disappeared. 
Then  I  was  overcome,  and  I  did  not  care  what 
happened  to  me,  for,  having  lost  the  valuable  dye 
formulas,  I  did  not  think  life  worth  living. 

"Perhaps  I  was  foolish,"  said  Mr.  Baxter, 
"but  I  had  tried  so  many  things  and  failed,  and 
I  counted  so  much  on  these  formulas  that  it 
seemed  as  if  the  bottom  dropped  out  of  every- 
thing when  I  lost  them." 

"I  know,"  said  Tom  sympathetically.  "I've 
been  in  the  same  boat  myself.  But  are  you 
sure  they  took  the  papers  which  meant  so  mucK 
to  you?" 

"I  don't  see  who  else  could,"  answered  the 
chemist.  "The  papers  were  in  a  tin  box  on  the 
table  in  the  room  where  I  was  overcome  by  fire 
gases,  or  where,  perhaps,  they  drugged  me.  I 
am  not  clear  on  this  point.  And  afterward  the 
tin  box  could  not  be  found.  There  wasn't 
enough  fire  in  that  room  to  have  melted  it." 

"No,"  agreed  Tom,  "it  was  mostly  smoke  in 


IOO     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

there,  and  smoke  won't  melt  tin.     Nor  did  I  see 
any  box  on  the  table  when  we  carried  you  out." 

"Then  the  only  other  surmise  is  that  Field  and 
Melling  got  away  with  my  formulae  during  the 
excitement  and  when  I  was  half  unconscious," 
went  on  Mr.  Baxter  bitterly.  "But  you  can  see 
how  foolish  I  would  be  to  accuse  them  in  court. 
I  haven't  a  bit  of  proof." 

"Not  much,  for  a  fact,"  agreed  Tom.  "Well, 
with  what  I  heard  and  what  you  tell  me,  perhaps 
we  can  work  up  a  case  against  them  later.  I'll 
go  over  it  with  Ned.  He  has  a  better  head  for 
business  than  I." 

"Yes,  we  inventors  need  some  business  brains ; 
or  at  least  the  time  to  give  to  business  problems," 
agreed  the  chemist.  "But  enough  of  my  troubles. 
Let's  get  at  this  chemical  compound  of  yours." 

Tom  and  Mr.  Baxter  spent  many  days  and 
nights  perfecting  the  fire-extinguisher  chemical, 
and,  after  repeated  tests,  Tom  felt  that  he  was 
nearer  his  goal. 

One  afternoon  Ned  called,  and  Tom  invited 
him  to  go  for  a  ride  in  a  small  but  speedy  aero- 
plane. 

"Anything  special  on?"  asked  the  young 
manager. 

"In  a  way,  yes,"  Tom  answered.  "I'm  having 
a  firm  in  Newmarket  make  me  some  different  con- 


THE  BLAZING  TREE  jot 

tainers,  and  they  have  promised  me  samples  to- 
day. I  thought  I'd  take  a  fly  over  and  get  them. 
I  have  the  chemical  compound  all  but  perfected 
now,  and  I  want  to  give  it  another  test." 

"All  right,  I'm  with  you,"  assented  Ned. 
"Newmarket,"  he  added  musingly.  "Isn't  that 
where  Field  and  Melling  are  now?" 

"Yes.  They  have  a  factory  on  the  outskirts 
of  the  place,  and  their  offices  are  in  the  Land- 
mark Building.  But  we  aren't  going  to  see  them, 
though  we  may  call  on  them  later,  when  you  have 
that  case  better  worked  up."  For  Ned's  services 
had  been  enlisted  to  aid  Mr.  Baxter. 

"I  shall  need  a  little  more  time,"  remarked 
Ned.  "But  I  think  we  can  at  least  bluff  them 
into  playing  into  our  hands.  I  have  a  report  to 
hear  from  a  private  detective  I  have  hired." 

"I  hope  we  can  do  something  to  aid  Baxter," 
remarked  Tom.  "He  has  done  me  good  service 
in  this  chemical  fire  extinguisher  matter." 

A  little  later  Tom  and  Ned  were  speeding 
through  the  air  on  their  way  to  Newmarket. 
The  rapid  flier  was  making  good  time  at  not 
a  great  height  when  Ned,  leaning  forward,  ap- 
peared to  be  gazing  at  something  in  the  near 
distance. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Tom,  for  he  had 
his  silencer  on  this  craft  and  it  was  possible  for 


102     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

the  occupants  to  converse.  "Do  you  hear  one  of 
the  cylinders  missing,  Ned  ?" 

"No.  But  what's  that  smoke  down  there?" 
and  Ned  pointed.     "It  looks  like  a  fire !" 

"It  is  a  fire!"  exclaimed  Tom,  as  he  took  an 
observation.  "Not  a  big  one,  but  a  fire,  just  the 
same.     If  only " 

He  did  not  finish  what  he  started  to  say,  but 
changed  the  direction  of  his  air  craft  and  headed 
directly  toward  a  pall  of  smoke  about  a  mile  away. 

In  a  few  seconds  they  were  near  enough  to 
make  out  the  character  of  the  blaze. 

"Look,  Tom!"  cried  Ned.  "It's  an  immense 
tree  on  fire!" 

"A  tree!"  exclaimed  Tom,  half  incredulously, 
for  he  was  leaning  forward  to  look  at  one  of  the 
aeroplane  gages  and  did  not  have  a  clear  view  of 
what  Ned  was  looking  at. 

"Yes,  as  sure  as  Mr.  Damon  would  bless  some- 
thing if  he  were  here!  It's  a  tree  on  fire  up  near 
the  top !" 

"That's  strange!"  murmured  Tom.  "But  it 
may  give  me  just  the  chance  I've  been  looking 
for." 

Ned  wondered  at  this  remark  on  the  part  of 
his  chum  as  the  airship  drew  nearer  the  blazing 
monarch  in  the  patch  of  woods  over  which  they 
were  then  hovering. 


CHAPTER  XII 


TOM   IS   LONESOME 


"This  is  certainly  the  strangest  sight  I  ever 
saw,"  remarked  Ned,  as  he  and  his  chum  flew 
nearer  and  nearer  to  the  smoking  and  blazing 
tree.  "Is  the  world  turning  upside  down,  Tom, 
when  fires  start  in  this  fashion  ?" 

"I  fancy  it  can  easily  be  explained,"  answered 
the  young  inventor.  "We'll  go  into  that  later. 
Here,  Ned,  grab  hold  of  that  tin  can  on  the  floor 
and  take  out  the  screw  plug." 

"What's  the  idea?" 

"I  want  you  to  drop  it  as  nearly  as  you  can 
right  into  the  midst  of  the  tree  that's  on  fire." 

"Oh,  I  get  your  drift!  Well,  you  can  count 
on  me." 

Ned  picked  up  from  the  floor  of  their  aeroplane 
a  metal  can  similar  to  those  Tom  used  to  hold  oil 
or  perhaps  spare  gasoline  when  he  was  experi- 
menting on  airship  speed.  The  opening  was 
closed  with  a  screw  plug,  with  wings  to  afford  an 
easier  grip.  As  Ned  unscrewed  this  his  nostrils 
were  greeted  by  an  odor  that  made  him  gasp. 
103 


104     T0M  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"Don't  mind  a  little  thing  like  that,"  cried 
Tom.  "Drop  it  down,  Ned!  Drop  it  down! 
We're  going  to  be  right  over  the  tree  in  another 
second  or  two !" 

Ned  leaned  over  the  side  of  the  craft  and  had 
a  good  view  of  the  strange  sight.  The  tree  that 
was  on  fire  was  a  dead  oak  of  great  size,  dwarf- 
ing the  other  trees  in  the  grove  in  which  it  stood. 
In  common  with  other  oaks  this  one  still  retained 
many  of  its  dried  leaves,  though  it  was  devoid, 
or  almost  devoid,  of  life.  Ned  noticed  in  the 
branches  many  irregularly  shaped  objects,  and  it 
appeared  to  be  these  that  were  on  fire,  blazing 
fiercely. 

"It  looks  as  though  some  one  had  tied  bundles 
of  sticks  in  the  tree  and  set  them  on  fire,"  Ned 
thought  as  he  poised  the  opened  tin  of  the  evil- 
smelling  compound  on  the  edge  of  the  aeroplane's 
cockpit. 

"Let  her  go,  Ned !"  cried  Tom.  "You'll  be  too 
late  in  another  second!" 

Ned  raised  himself  in  his  seat  and  threw,  rather 
than  let  fall,  the  can  straight  for  the  blazing  tree. 
Like  a  bomb  it  shot  toward  earth,  and  Ned  and 
Tom,  looking  down,  could  see  it  strike  a  limb  and 
break  open,  the  rupture  of  the  can  letting  loose 
the  liquid  contained  in  it. 

And  then,  before  the  eyes  of  Tom  and  Ned,  the 


TOM  IS  LONESOME  105 

fire  seemed  to  die  out  as  a  picture  melts  away  on 
a  moving  picture  screen.  The  smoke  rolled  away 
in  a  ball-like  cloud,  and  the  flames  ceased  to 
crackle  and  roar. 

"Well,  for  the  love  of  molasses!  what 
happened,  Tom?"  cried  Ned,  as  the  young  in- 
ventor guided  his  craft  about  in  a  big  circle  to 
come  back  again  over  the  tree.  He  wanted  to 
make  sure  that  the  fire  was  out. 

It  was ! 

"What  sent  that  blaze  to  the  happy  hunting 
grounds  ?"  asked  Ned. 

"My  new  aerial  extinguisher,"  answered  Tom, 
with  justifiable  pride  in  his  voice.  "This  fire 
happened  in  the  nick  of  time  for  me,  Ned.  I  had 
a  tin  of  my  new  combination  in  the  car,  not  with 
any  intention  of  using  it,  though.  I  intended  to 
pour  it  in  the  new  containers  I  am  having  made 
in  Newmarket  to  see  if  it  would  corrode  them, 
a  thing  I  wish  to  avoid. 

"But  when  I  saw  that  tree  on  fire  I  couldn't 
resist  the  temptation  to  use  my  very  latest  combi- 
nation of  chemicals.  It  is  so  recent  that  I  haven't 
actually  tried  it  on  a  blaze  yet,  though  I  had 
figured  out  in  theory  that  it  ought  to  work.  And 
it  did,  Ned !     It  worked !" 

"Well,  I  should  say  so!"  agreed  his  chum. 
"That  blaze  was  doused  for  fair.     The  test  could 


106     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

not  have  been  better.  But  what  in  the  name  of 
a  volunteer  fire  department  set  that  tree  to  blaz- 
ing,  Tom?" 

"I'll  tell  you  in  a  moment.  I  want  to  make 
some  notes  before  I  forget.  That  combination 
seems  to  be  just  of  the  right  strength.  It  did 
the  trick.  Here,  take  the  wheel  and  hold  her 
steady  while  I  jot  down  some  memoranda  be~ 
fore  they  get  away  from  me." 

Ned  was  capable  of  managing  an  airship, 
especially  under  Tom's  watchful  eye,  and  as  this 
craft  was  one  with  dual  controls  there  was  no 
difficulty  in  shifting  from  one  steersman  to  the 
other. 

So  while  Ned  guided,  now  and  then  gazing 
down  at  the  tree  from  which  some  smoke  still 
arose,  though  the  fire  was  all  out,  Tom  made  the 
necessary  scientific  notes  for  future  amplification. 

"And  now,"  observed  Ned,  as  his  chum  re- 
sumed the  wheel,  "suppose  you  enlighten  me  on 
how  that  tree  came  to  be  on  fire — if  you  didn't 
set  it  yourself." 

"No,  I  didn't  do  that,"  Tom  said,  with  a  laugh. 
"And  I  only  have  a  theory  as  to  the  cause  of  the 
blaze.  But  suppose  we  go  down  and  take  a  look. 
There's  a  good  field  around  this  grove,  and  we 
can  get  a  fine  take  off.     I'll  have  to  go  back  to 


TOM  IS  LONESOME  107 

Shopton  anyhow,  to  get  some  more  of  the 
chemical." 

So  the  aeroplane  made  a  landing,  and  then  the 
mystery  was  explained.  The  dead  oak,  to  which 
some  of  its  last  year's  foliage  still  clung,  was  the 
abiding  place  of  thousands  of  crows  that  had  built 
their  nests  in  it.  There  were  hundreds  of  the  big 
nests,  made  of  dried  sticks,  mostly,  and  these 
made  an  ideal  fuel  for  the  fire. 

"But  where  are  the  crows,  and  what  started  the 
fire?"  asked  Ned. 

"I  fancy  the  birds  flew  away  as  soon  as  they 
saw  their  homes  on  fire,"  said  Tom.  "Or  they 
may  not  have  been  at  home.  Flocks  of  crows 
often  go  to  some  distant  feeding  ground  for  the 
day,  returning  at  night.  I  fancy  that  is  what  hap- 
pened here. 

"As  for  the  cause  of  the  blaze,  I  believe  it  was 
set  by  some  mischievous  boys,  who  saw  a  good 
chance  to  have  some  fun  without  thought  of  doing 
any  real  damage.  For  the  dead  tree  was  of  no 
value,  and  I  imagine  the  farmers  would  be  glad 
to  see  the  flock  of  crows  dispersed.  Some  boys 
probably  climbed  up  and  set  fire  to  one  of  the 
nests,  and  then,  when  they  saw  the  whole  lot 
going,  they  became  frightened  and  ran  away." 

And  Tom's  theory  was,  eventually,  proved  to  be 


108     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

true.  Some  lads,  wandering  afield,  had  set  fire 
to  the  crows'  nests  and  then,  frightened  as  they 
saw  a  bigger  blaze  than  they  intended,  ran  away. 

Tom  and  Ned  did  not  remain  to  see  what  the 
returning  crows  might  think  about  the  destruction 
of  their  homes,  provided  they  saw  fit  to  return, 
but,  starting  the  aeroplane,  were  again  on  their 
way. 

Tom  had  lingered  long  enough  to  make  sure- 
that  his  latest  combination  of  chemicals  had  been 
just  what  was  needed.  He  felt  sure  that  by  using 
a  larger  quantity,  no  fire,  however  fierce,  could 
continue  to  blaze. 

"But  I  want  to  give  it  a  good  trial,  Ned,  as  we 
did  from  the  tower,"  said  Tom.  "Though  I 
don't  believe  there'll  be  a  fizzle  this  time." 

It  did  not  take  long  for  Tom  to  secure  another 
supply  of  the  new  chemical.  He  then  went  with 
it  to  the  firm  in  Newmarket  that  was  making  his 
containers,  or  "bombs"  as  he  called  them. 

On  his  return  he  consulted  with  Mr.  Baxter 
as  to  the  ingredients  of  the  fluid  that  had  put  out 
the  blaze  in  the  tree. 

"I  believe  you  have  at  last  hit  on  the  right 
combination,"  said  the  chemist.  "You  are  on  the 
road  to  success,  Tom.  I  wish  I  could  say  the 
same  of  myself." 

"Perhaps  your  formulae  may  come  back  to  you 


TOM  IS  LONESOME  109 

as  suddenly  as  the}'-  disappeared,  or  as  quickly  as 
I  discovered  that  I  had  the  right  thing  to  put  out 
the  fire,"  said  Tom  hopefully. 

Busy  days  followed  for  the  young  inventor. 
Now  that  he  was  convinced  he  had  at  last  evolved 
the  right  mixture  of  chemicals,  he  prepared  to 
make  a  test  on  a  larger  scale  than  merely  a  blaz- 
ing tree. 

"I'll  try  it  with  a  fire  in  the  pit,"  he  said  to  his 
chum. 

Preparations  were  made,  and  the  day  before 
Tom  was  to  carry  out  his  plans  he  received  a 
letter. 

'"What's  the  matter?  Bad  news?"  asked  Ned, 
as  he  saw  his  friend's  face  change  after  reading 
the  epistle. 

"Nothing  much.  Only  Mary  is  going  away, 
and  I  had  expected  her  to  be  at  the  test,"  Tom 
answered. 

"Going  away?"  echoed  Ned.     "For  long?" 

"Oh,  no,  only  for  a  couple  of  weeks.  She  is 
going  to  visit  an  uncle  and  aunt  in  Newmarket, 
or  just  outside  of  that  city.  Another  uncle,  Bar- 
ton Keith,  has  offices  in  the  Landmark  Building, 
I  believe." 

"Landmark  Building/'  murmured  Ned.  "Isn't 
that  where  Field  and  Melling  hang  out?" 

"Yes.     But  don't  mention  Mary's  uncle  in  con- 


HO     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

nection  with  them,"  laughed  Tom.  "He  wouldn't 
like  it." 

"I  should  say  not !" 

Ned  well  remembered  Mary's  uncle,  who  had 
been  associated  with  Tom  in  recovering  the 
treasure  in  the  undersea  search. 

"Well,  if  she  can't  be  here,  she  can't,"  said 
Tom,  as  philosophically  as  possible.  "I'd  better 
run  over  and  bid  her  good-bye." 

This  Tom  did,  though  Ned  noticed  that  his 
chum  acted  as  though  lonesome  on  his  return. 

"But  when  he  gets  to  work  testing  his  new 
chemical  he'll  be  all  right,"  decided  Ned. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


A  SUCCESSFUL  TEST 


"It  took  you  long  enough,"  Ned  remarked  as 
Tom  entered  the  main  office  of  the  plant,  having 
been  to  see  Mary  off  on  her  trip  to  Newmarket. 
This  was  following  his  call  of  the  night  before  to 
learn  more  particulars  of  her  unexpected  visit. 

"Yes,  I  didn't  plan  to  be  gone  so  long,"  apolo- 
gized Tom.  "But  I  thought  while  I  was  there  I 
might  as  well  go  all  the  way  with  her." 

"And  did  you?" 

"Yes.  In  the  electric  runabout.  I  wanted  to 
come  back  and  get  the  airship,  but  she  said  she 
wanted  to  look  nice  when  she  met  her  relatives, 
and  as  yet  airship  travel  is  a  bit  mussy.  Though 
when  I  get  my  cabined  cruiser  of  the  clouds  I'll 
guarantee  not  to  ruffle  a  curl  of  the  daintiest  girl !" 

"Getting  poetical  in  your  old  age!"  laughed 
Ned.  "Well,  here  is  that  statement  you  said  you 
wanted  me  to  get  ready.  Want  to  go  over  it 
now  ?" 

"No,  I  guess  not,  as  long  as  you  know  it's  all 
in 


112     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

right.  I'm  going  to  start  right  in  and  get  ready 
for  a  bang-up  test." 

"Of  what — your  new  aerial  fire  fighting  appa- 
ratus?" 

"Yes.  Mr.  Baxter  and  I  are  going  to  make  up 
a  lot  of  the  chemical  compound  that — we  dis- 
covered through  using  it  on  the  blazing  tree — will 
best  do  the  trick.  Then  I'm  going  to  try  it  on  a 
pit  fire,  and  after  that  on  a  big  blaze  with  an 
airship." 

"Let  me  know  when  you  do,"  begged  Ned. 
"I  want  to  see  you  do  it." 

"I'll  send  you  word,"  promised  the  young  in- 
ventor. 

Then  he  began  several  days  and  nights  of  hard 
work.  And  he  was  glad  to  have  the  chance  to 
occupy  himself,  for,  though  Tom  professed  not 
to  be  much  affected  by  the  departure  of  Mary 
Nestor,  he  really  was  very  lonesome. 

"How  is  her  uncle,  Barton  Keith,  by  the  way?" 
asked  Ned,  when  he  called  on  his  chum  one  day, 
to  find  him  reading  a  letter  which  needed  but  half 
an  eye.  to  tell  was  from  Mary. 

"About  as  usual,"  was  the  answer.  "He  sends 
word  by  Mary  that  he'll  be  glad  to  see  us  any  time 
we  want  to  call.  He  has  some  nice  offices  in  the 
Landmark  Building." 

"Those  papers  proving  his  right  to  the  oil  land, 


A  SUCCESSFUL  TEST 


"3 


which  you  recovered  from  the  sunken  ship  for 
him,  must  have  made  his  fortune." 

"Well,  yes — that  and  other  things,"  agreed 
Tom.  "Say,  we  had  some  exciting  times  on  that 
undersea  search,  didn't  we?" 

"Did  you  call  on  Mr.  Keith  when  you  went  to 
Newmarket  with  Mary?"  Ned  wanted  to  know, 
for  he  and  Tom  had  taken  quite  a  liking  to  Miss 
Nestor's  uncle. 

"No,  I  didn't  get  a  chance.  Besides,  I  wanted 
to  keep  away  from  the  Landmark  Building." 

"Why?" 

"Oh,  I  might  run  into  Field  and  Melling,  and 
I  don't  want  to  see  them  until  I  can  accuse  them, 
and  prove  it,  of  having  taken  Mr.  Baxter's  dye 
formulae." 

"Oh,  yes,  they're  in  the  same  building  with  Mr. 
Keith,  aren't  they?  Why  do  they  call  it  the 
Landmark?  Though  I  suppose  the  answer  is 
obvious." 

"Yes,"  assented  Tom.  "It's  a  big  building — 
the  tallest  ever  erected  in  that  city,  and  a  fine 
structure.  Though  while  they  were  about  it  I 
don't  see  why  they  didn't  make  it  fireproof." 

"Didn't  they?"  asked  Ned,  in  surprise.  "Then 
the  insurance  rates  must  be  unusually  high,  for  the 
companies  are  beginning  to  realize  how  fire  de- 
partments, even  in  big  cities,  are  hampered  in 


114     T0M  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

fighting  blazes  above  the  tenth  or  twelfth  stories/' 

"Yes,  it  was  a  mistake  not  to  have  the  Land- 
mark Building  fireproof,"  admitted  Tom.  "And 
Mr.  Keith  says  the  owners  are  beginning  to 
realize  that  now.  It  is  what  is  called  the  'slow 
burning'  construction." 

"Insurance  companies  don't  go  much  on  that," 
declared  Ned,  who  was  in  a  position  to  know. 
"Well,  let  us  hope  it  never  catches  fire." 

These  were  busy  days  for  the  young  inventor. 
He  laid  aside  all  his  other  activities  in  order  to 
perfect  the  plans  for  manufacturing  his  new 
chemical  fire  extinguisher  on  a  large  scale.  For 
^Tom  realized  that  while  a  small  quantity  of 
chemicals  in  a  compound  might  act  in  a  certain 
way  on  one  occasion,  if  the  bulk  should  happen 
to  be  increased  the  experimenter  could  not  always 
count  on  invariably  the  same  results. 

There  appeared  to  be  at  times  a  change  en- 
gendered when  a  large  quantity  of  chemicals  were 
mixed  which  was  not  manifest  in  a  small  and  ex- 
perimental batch. 

So  Tom  wanted  to  mix  up  a  big  tank  of  his 
new  chemical  compound  and  see  if  it  would  work 
in  large  quantities  as  well  as  it  did  with  the  small 
amount  Ned  had  dropped  on  the  blazing  tree. 

To  this  end  Tom  worked  at  night,  as  well  as  by 
day,  and  finally  he  announced  to  Ned  and  Mr. 


rA  SUCCESSFUL  TEST  115 

Damon,  who  called  one  evening,  that  he  believed 
he  had  everything  in  readiness  for  an  exhaustive 
test  the  next  day. 

"There's  the  stuff !"  exclaimed  Tom,  not  a  little 
proudly,  as  he  waved  his  hand  toward  an  immense 
carboy  in  the  main  shop.  "That's  what  I  hope 
will  do  the  trick.     Just  take  a " 

"Hold  on !  Stop !  That's  enough !  Bless  my 
hair  brush !"  cried  Mr.  Damon,  holding  up  a  pro- 
testing hand.  "If  you  take  that  cork  out,  Tom 
Swift,  you  and  I  will  cease  to  be  friends !" 

"I  wasn't  going  to  open  it,"  laughed  the  young 
inventor.  "It  has  a  worse  odor  and  seems  to 
choke  you  more  in  a  big  quantity  than  when 
there's  only  a  little.  I  was  just  going  to  shake 
the  carboy  to  let  you  realize  how  full  it  was." 

"We'll  take  your  word  for  it!"  laughed  Ned. 
"Now  about  your  test.  How  are  you  going  to 
work  it?" 

"There  are  to  be  two  tests,"  answered  Tom. 
"The  first,  and  the  smaller,  will  be  in  the  pit,  as 
before,  only  this  time  we  shall  have  what,  I  be- 
lieve, will  be  the  successful  combination  of  chem- 
icals to  drop  on  it. 

"The  second  test  will  be  the  main  one.  In  that 
I  plan  to  have  an  old  barn  which  I  have  bought 
set  ablaze.  Then  Ned  and  I  will  sail  over  it  in 
the  airship  and  drop  chemicals  on  it.     The  barn 


Ii6     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

will  be  filled  with  empty  boxes  and  barrels,  to 
make  as  hot  a  fire  as  possible.  You  are  invited 
to  accompany  us,  Mr.  Damon." 

"Will  there  be  any  smell?"  asked  the  eccentric 
man,  who  seemed  to  have  a  dislike  for  anything 
that  was  not  as  agreeable  as  perfume. 

"No,  the  chemicals  will  be  sealed  in  containers, 
which  will  be  dropped  from  my  airship  as  bombs 
were  dropped  in  the  war,"  said  Tom. 

"On  those  conditions  I'll  go  along,"  agreed  Mr. 
Damon.  "But  bless  my  wedding  certificate, 
Tom!  don't  tell  my  wife.  She  thinks  I'm  crazy 
enough  now,  associating  with  you  and  flying  oc- 
casionally. If  she  thought  I  would  help  you 
battle  with  flames  from  the  air  she'd  likely  never 
speak  to  me  again." 

"I'll  not  tell,"  promised  Tom,  laughing. 

Preparations  for  the  test  went  on  rapidly.  In 
the  morning  a  fire  was  to  be  started  in  the  same 
pit  where  the  experiment  had  partly  failed  before. 

From  the  platform  over  the  blazing  hole  some 
of  the  new  combination  of  chemicals  was  to  be 
dropped.  If  it  acted  with  success,  as  Tom  be- 
lieved it  would,  he  proposed  to  go  on  with  the 
more  important  test  in  the  afternoon. 

To  this  end  he  had  purchased  from  a  farmer 
the  right  to  set  on  fire  an  old  ramshackle  barn, 
standing  in  the  midst  of  a  field  about  three  miles 


A  SUCCESSFUL  TEST  ny 

outside  of  Shopton.  The  barn  was  on  an  untilled 
farm,  the  house  having  been  destroyed  some  years 
before,  and  it  was  not  near  any  other  structures, 
so  that,  even  in  a  high  wind,  no  damage  would 
result. 

Tom  had  filled  the  barn  with  inflammable  ma- 
terial, and  was  going  to  spare  no  effort  to  have  the 
test  as  exhaustive  as  possible. 

The  time  came  for  the  preliminary  trial,  and 
there  were  a  few  anxious  moments  after  the  oil- 
soaked  boards  and  boxes  in  the  pit  were  set 
ablaze. 

"Let  her  go !"  cried  Tom  to  his  man  on  the  ele- 
vated platform,  and  down  fell  the  container  of 
chemicals.  It  had  no  sooner  struck  and  burst, 
letting  loose  a  mass  of  flame-choking  vapor,  than 
the  fire  died  out. 

"You've  struck  it,  Tom!  You've  struck  it!" 
cried  Ned. 

"It  begins  to  look  so,"  agreed  the  young  in- 
ventor. "But  I'll  not  call  myself  out  of  the 
woods  until  this  afternoon.  Though  we  can  con- 
sider it  a  success  so  far." 

Quite  a  throng  was  on  hand  when  the  old  barn 
was  set  ablaze.  Tom  and  Ned  and  Mr.  Damon 
were  there  with  the  airship  which  had  been  es- 
pecially fitted  to  carry  the  bombs  filled  with  the 
extinguisher. 


Il8     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

In  order  to  insure  a  quick,  hot  blaze  the  barn 
,was  fired  on  all  four  sides  at  once  by  Tom's  men. 
When  it  was  seen  to  be  a  veritable  raging  furnace 
of  fire,  Tom  and  his  two  friends  took  their  places 
in  the  airship  and  rapidly  mounted  upward. 

Necessarily  they  had  to  circle  off  away  from 
the  blaze  to  get  to  the  necessary  height,  but  Tom 
soon  brought  the  airship  around  again  and  headed 
for  the  black  pall  of  smoke  which  marked  the 
place  of  the  blazing  barn. 

"We'll  all  three  send  down  bombs  at  the  same 
time,"  Tom  told  his  friends,  as  they  darted  for- 
ward. "When  I  give  the  word  press  the  levers, 
and  the  chemical  containers  will  drop.  Then 
we'll  hope  for  the  best." 

Higher  mounted  the  flames,  and  more  fiercely 
raged  the  fire.  The  heat  of  it  penetrated  even 
aloft,  where  Tom  and  his  friends  were  scudding 
along  in  the  airship. 

"Now !"  cried  Tom,  as  his  craft  hovered  for  an 
instant  in  a  favorable  position  for  dropping  the 
bombs.  The  young  inventor,  Mr.  Damon,  and 
Ned  Newton  pressed  the  levers.  Looking  ovef 
the  sides  of  the  craft,  they  saw  three  dark  objects 
dropping  into  the  midst  of  the  burning  barn. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


OUT  OF  THE  CLOUDS 


Almost  as  though  some  giant  hand  had 
dropped  an  immense  cloak  over  the  fire  in  the 
barn,  so  did  the  blaze  die  down  instantly  after 
Tom  Swift's  extinguishing  liquid  had  been 
dropped  into  the  seething  caldron  of  flame.  For 
a  moment  there  was  even  no  smoke,  but  as  the 
embers  remained  hot  and  glowing  for  a  time, 
though  the  flames  themselves  were  quenched,  a 
rolling  vapor  cloud  began  to  ascend  shortly  after 
the  first  cessation  of  the  fire.  But  this  only 
lasted  a  little  while. 

"You've  turned  the  trick,  Tom!"  cried  Ned, 
leaning  far  over  to  look  at  what  was  left  of  the 
barn  and  its  contents. 

"Bless  my  insurance  policy,  I  should  say  so!" 
exclaimed  Mr.  Damon.  "It  was  certainly  neat 
work,  Tom!" 

"It  does  look  as  if  I'd  struck  the  right  com- 
bination," admitted  Tom,  and  he  felt  justifiable 
pride  in  his  achievement. 
119 


120     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"Look  so !  Why,  hang  it  all,  man,  it  is  so !"  de- 
clared Ned.  "That  fire  went  out  as  if  sent  for 
by  a  special  delivery  telegram  to  give  a  hurry-up 
performance  in  another  locality.  Look,  there's 
hardly  any  smoke  even !" 

This  was  so,  as  the  three  occupants  of  the 
rapidly  moving  airship  could  see  when  Tom 
circled  back  to  pass  again  over  the  almost  de- 
stroyed structure.  He  had  waited  until  it  was 
almost  consumed  before  dropping  his  chemicals, 
as  he  wished  to  make  the  test  hard  and  conclusive. 
Now  the  fire  was  out  except  for  a  few  small  spots 
spouting  up  here  and  there,  away  from  the  cen- 
ter of  the  blaze. 

"Yes,  I  guess  she  doesn't  need  a  second  dose," 
observed  Tom,  when  he  saw  how  effective  had 
been  his  treatment  of  the  fire.  "I  had  an  addi^ 
tional  batch  of  chemicals  on  hand,  in  case  they 
were  needed,"  he  added,  and  he  tapped  some  un- 
used bombs  at  his  feet. 

"I  call  this  a  pretty  satisfactory  test,"  declared 
Ned.  "If  you  want  to  form  a  stock  company, 
Tom,  and  put  your  aerial  fire-fighting  apparatus 
on  the  market,  I'll  guarantee  to  underwrite  the 
securities." 

"Hardly  that  yet,"  said  Tom,  with  a  laugn. 
"Now  that  I  have  my  chemical  combination  per- 
fected, or  practically  so,  I've  got  to  rig  up  an  air- 


OUT  OF  THE  CLOUDS  12 1 

ship  that  will  be  especially  adapted  for  fighting 
fires  in  sky-scrapers." 

"What  more  do  you  want  than  this?"  asked 
Ned,  as  his  chum  prepared  to  descend  in  the 
speedy  machine. 

"I  want  a  little  better  bomb-releasing  device, 
for  one  thing.  This  worked  all  right.  But  I 
want  one  that  is  more  nearly  automatic.  Then  I 
am  going  to  put  on  a  searchlight,  so  I  can  see 
where  I  am  heading  at  night." 

"Not  your  great  big  one !"  cried  Ned,  recalling 
the  immense  electric  lantern  that  had  so  aided  in 
capturing  the  Canadian  smugglers. 

"No.  But  one  patterned  after  that."  Tom 
answered. 

"Bless  my  candlestick !"  exclaimed  Mr.  Damon, 
"what  do  you  want  with  a  searchlight  at  a  fire, 
Tom?  Isn't  there  light  enough  at  a  blaze,  any- 
how?" 

"No,"  answered  the  young  inventor,  as  he  made 
his  usual  skillful  landing.  "You  know  all  the  big 
city  fire  departments  have  searchlights  now  for 
night  work  and  where  there  is  thick  smoke.  It 
may  be  that  same  day,  in  fighting  a  sky-scraper 
blaze  from  the  clouds  at  night,  I'll  have  need  of 
more  illumination  than  comes  from  the  flames 
themselves." 

"Well,  you  ought  to  know.     You've  made  a 


122     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

study  of  it,"  said  Mr.  Damon,  as  he  and  Ned 
alighted  with  Tom,  the  latter  receiving  congratu- 
lations from  a  number  of  his  friends,  including 
members  of  the  Shopton  fire  department  who 
were  present  to  witness  the  test. 

"Mighty  clever  piece  of  work,  Tom  Swift!'* 
declared  a  deputy  chief.  "Of  course  we  won't 
have  much  use  for  any  such  apparatus  here  in 
Shopton,  as  we  haven't  any  big  buildings.  But 
in  New  York,  Chicago,  Pittsburg  and  other  cities 
— why,  it  will  be  just  what  they  need,  to  my  way 
of  thinking." 

"And  he  needn't  go  so  far  from  home,"  said 
Mr.  Damon.  "There  is  one  tall  building  over  in 
Newmarket — the  Landmark.  I  happen  to  own  a 
little  stock  in  the  corporation  that  put  that  up, 
along  with  other  buildings,  and  I'm  going  to  have 
them  adopt  Tom  Swift's  aerial  fire-fighting  appa* 
ratus." 

"Thank  you.  But  you  don't  need  to  go  to  that 
trouble,"  asserted  Tom.  "My  idea  isn't  to  have 
every  sky-scraper  equipped  with  an  airship  ex- 
tinguisher." 

"No?     What  then?"  asked  Mr.  Damon. 

"Well,  I  think  there  ought  to  be  one,  or  perhaps 
two,  in  a  big  city  like  New  York,"  Tom  answered. 
"Perhaps  one  outfit  would  be  enough,  for  it  isn't 
likely  that  there  would  be  two  big  fires  in  the  tall 


OUT  OF  THE  CLOUDS  123 

building  section  at  the  same  time,  and  an  airship 
could  easily  cover  the  distance  between  two  widely 
separated  blazes.  But  if  I  can  perfect  this  ma- 
chine so  it  will  be  available  for  fires  out  of  the 
reach  of  apparatus  on  the  ground,  I'll  be  satis- 
fied." 

"You'll  do  it,  Tom,  don't  worry  about  that!" 
declared  the  deputy  chief.  "I  never  saw  a  slicker 
piece  of  work  than  this !" 

And  that  was  the  verdict  of  all  who  had  wit- 
nessed the  performance. 

With  the  successful  completion  of  this  exacting 
test  and  the  knowledge  that  he  had  perfected  the 
major  part  of  his  aerial  fire-extinguisher — the 
chemical  combination — Tom  Swift  was  now  able 
to  devote  his  attention  to  the  "frills"  as  Ned 
called  them.  That  is,  he  could  work  out  a  scheme 
for  attaching  a  searchlight  to  his  airship  and  make 
better  arrangements  for  a  one-man  control  in  re- 
leasing the  chemical  containers  into  the  heart  of  a 
big  blaze. 

Tom  Swift  owned  several  airships,  and  he 
finally  selected  one  of  not  too  great  size,  but  very 
powerful,  that  would  hold  three  and,  if  necessary, 
four  persons.  This  was  rebuilt  to  enable  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  the  fire-extinguishing  liquid 
to  be  stored  in  the  under  part  of  the  somewhat 
limited  cockpit. 


124     T0M  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

This  much  done,  and  while  his  men  were  mak- 
ing up  a  quantity  of  the  extinguisher,  using  the 
secret  formula,  and  storing  it  in  suitable  con- 
tainers, Tom  began  attaching  a  searchlight  to  his 
"cloud  fire-engine,"  as  Koku  called  it. 

The  giant  was  aching  to  be  with  Tom  and  help 
in  the  new  work,  but  Koku  was  faithful  to  the 
blinded  Eradicate,  and  remained  almost  constantly 
with  the  old  colored  man. 

It  was  touching  to  see  the  two  together,  the 
giant  trying,  in  his  kind,  but  imperfect  way,  to 
anticipate  the  wishes  of  the  other,  with  whom  he 
had  so  often  disputed  and  quarreled  in  days  past. 
Now  all  that  was  forgotten,  and  Koku  gave  up  be- 
ing with  Tom  to  wait  on  Eradicate. 

While  the  colored  man  was,  in  fact,  unable  to 
see,  following  the  accident  when  Tom  was  ex- 
perimenting with  the  fire  extinguisher,  it  was 
hoped  that  sight  might  be  restored  to  one  eye 
after  an  operation.  This  operation  had  to  be 
postponed  until  the  eyes  and  wounds  in  the  face 
were  sufficiently  healed. 

Meanwhile  Rad  suffered  as  patiently  as  possi- 
ble, and  Koku  shared  his  loneliness  in  the  sick 
room.  Tom  came  to  see  Rad  as  often  as  he 
could,  and  did  everything  possible  to  make  his 
aged  servant's  lot  happier.  But  Rad  wanted  to  be- 
up  and  about,  and  it  was  pathetic  to  hear  him  ask 


OUT  OF  THE  CLOUDS  125 

about  the  little  tasks  he  had  been  wont  to  per- 
form in  the  past. 

Rad  was  delighted  to  hear  of  Tom's  success 
with  the  new  apparatus,  after  having  been  told 
how  quickly  the  barn  fire  was  put  out. 

"Yo' — yo'  jest  wait  twell  I  gits  up,  Massa 
Tom,"  said  Rad.  "Den  Ah'll  help  make  all  de 
contraptions  on  de  airship." 

"All  right,  Rad,  there'll  be  plenty  for  you  to 
do  when  the  time  comes,"  said  the  inventor.  And 
he  could  not  help  a  feeling  of  sadness  as  he  left 
the  colored  man's  room. 

"I  wonder  if  he  is  doomed  to  be  blind  the  rest 
of  his  life,"  thought  Tom.  "I  hope  not,  for  if  he 
does  it  will  be  my  fault  for  letting  him  try  to  mix 
those  chemicals." 

But,  hoping  for  the  best,  Tom  plunged  into  the 
work  ahead  of  him.  He  did  not  want  to  offer 
his  aerial  fire  extinguisher  to  any  large  city  until 
he  had  perfected  it,  and  he  was  now  laboring  to 
that  end. 

One  day,  in  midsummer,  after  weary  days  of 
toil,  Tom  took  Ned  out  for  a  ride  in  the  machine 
which  had  been  fitted  up  to  carry  a  large  supply 
of  the  chemical  mixture,  a  small  but  powerful 
searchlight,  and  other  new  "wrinkles"  as  Tom 
called  them,  not  going  into  details. 

"Any  special  object  in  view?"  asked  Ned,  as 


126     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

Tom  headed  across  country.  "Are  you  going  to 
put  out  any  more  tree  fires?" 

"No,  I  haven't  that  in  mind,"  was  the  answer. 
"Though  of  course  if  we  come  across  a  blaze,  ex- 
cept a  brush  fire,  I  may  put  it  out.  I  have  the 
bombs  here,"  and  Tom  indicated  the  releasing 
lever. 

"What  I  want  to  try  now  is  the  stability  of 
this  with  all  I  have  on  board,"  he  resumed.  "If 
she  is  able  to  travel  along,  and  behave  as  well  as 
she  did  before  I  made  the  changes,  I'll  know  she 
is  going  to  be  all  right.  I  don't  expect  to  put 
out  any  fires  this  trip." 

In  testing  the  ship  of  the  air  Tom  sent  her  up 
to  a  good  height,  heading  out  over  the  open  coun- 
try and  toward  a  lake  on  the  shores  of  which 
were  a  number  of  summer  resorts.  It  was  now 
the  middle  of  the  season,  and  many  campers,  cot- 
tagers and  hotel  folk  were  scattered  about  the 
wooded  shore  of  the  pretty  and  attractive  body 
of  water. 

Tom  and  Ned  had  a  glimpse  of  the  lake,  dotted 
with  many  motor  boats  and  other  craft,  as  the 
airship  ascended  until  it  was  above  the  clouds. 
Then,  for  a  time,  nothing  could  be  seen  by  the 
occupants  but  masses  of  feathery  vapor. 

"She's  working  all  right,"  decided  Tom,  when 
he  found  th?.t  he  could  perform  his  usual  aerial 


OUT  OF  THE  CLOUDS  i2fl 

feats  with  his  craft,  laden  as  she  was  with  appa- 
ratus, as  well  as  he  had  been  able  to  do  before 
she  was  so  burdened.  "Guess  we  might  as  well 
go  down,  Ned.  There  isn't  much  more  to  do, 
as  far  as  I  can  see." 

Down  out  of  the  heights  they  swept  at  a  rapid 
pace.  A  few  moments  later  they  had  burst 
through  the  film  of  clouds  and  once  more  the 
lake  was  below  them  in  clear  view. 

Suddenly  Ned  pointed  to  something  on  the 
water  and  cried : 

"Look,  Tom!  Look!  A  motor  boat  in  som^ 
kiad  of  trouble!    She's  sinking!" 


CHAPTER  XV 


COALS   OF   FIRE 


Tom  Swift  saw  the  craft  almost  as  soon  as 
did  his  chum.  It  was  rather  a  large-sized  motor 
boat,  quite  some  distance  out  from  shore,  and 
there  was  no  other  craft  near  it  at  this  time. 
From  the  quick,  first  view  Tom  and  Ned  had  of 
it,  they  decided  that  a  party  of  excursionists  were 
on  a  pleasure  trip. 

But  that  an  accident  had  happened,  and  that 
trouble,  if  not,  indeed,  danger,  was  imminent, 
was  at  once  apparent  to  the  young  inventor  and 
the  other  occupant  of  the  swiftly  moving  airship. 

For  as  Tom  shut  off  his  motor,  to  volplane 
down,  thus  reducing  all  noise  on  his  craft,  they 
could  dimly  hear  the  shouts  and  calls  for  help, 
coming  from  the  water  craft  below  them. 

"Help !  Help !"  came  the  impassioned  appeals, 
floating  up  to  Tom  and  Ned. 

"We're  coming!"  Tom  answered,  though  it  is 
doubtful  if  his  voice  was  heard.  Sound  does  not 
seem  to  carry  downward  as  well  as  upward,  and 
128 


COALS  OF  FIRE  129 

though  Tom's  craft  was  making  scarcely  any 
noise,  save  that  caused  by  the  rush  of  wind 
through  the  struts  and  wires,  there  was  so  much 
confusion  on  the  motor  boat,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  engine  which  was  going,  that  Tom's  encour° 
aging  call  must  have  been  unheard. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do,  Tom  ?"  asked  Nedr 
"You  can't  land  on  the  water !" 

"I  know  it;  worse  luck!  If  I  only  had  the 
hydroplane,  now,  we  could  make  a  thrilling  res- 
cue— land  right  beside  the  other  boat  and  take 
'em  all  off.  But,  as  it  is,  I'll  have  to  land  as  near 
as  I  can  and  then  we  will  look  for  a  boat  to  go 
out  to  them  in." 

Ned  saw,  now,  what  Tom's  object  was.  On 
one  shore  of  the  lake  was  a  large,  level  field,  suit- 
able for  a  landing  place  for  the  craft  of  the  air. 
At  least  it  looked  to  be  a  suitable  place,  but  Tom 
would  be  obliged  to  take  a  chance  on  that.  This 
field  sloped  down  to  the  beach  of  the  lake,  and 
as  Ned  and  his  chum  came  nearer  to  earth  they 
could  see  several  boats  on  shore,  though  no  per- 
sons were  near  them.  Had  there  been,  probably 
they  would  have  gone  to  the  rescue. 

Tom  cast  a  rapid  look  across  the  sheet  of  wa- 
ter, to  make  sure  his  services  were  really  needed. 
The  motor  boat  was  lower  in  the  lake  now,  and 
was,  undoubtedly,  sinking.     And  no  other  craft 


130     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

was  near  enough  to  render  help.  Though  distant 
whistles,  seeming  to  come  from  approaching 
craft,  told  of  help  on  the  way. 

"Hold  fast,  Ned !"  cried  Tom,  as  they  neared 
the  earth.     "We  may  bump !" 

But  Tom  Swift  was  too  skillful  a  pilot  to  cause 
his  craft  to  sustain  much  of  a  crash.  He  made 
an  almost  perfect  "three  point  landing,"  and  there 
would  have  been  no  unusual  shaking,  except  for 
the  fact  that  the  field  was  a  bit  bumpy,  and  the 
craft  more  heavily  laden  than  usual. 

"Good  work,  Tom !"  cried  Ned,  as  the  Lucifer 
slackened  her  speed,  the  young  inventor  having 
sent  her  around  in  a  half  circle  so  that  she  now 
faced  the  lake.  Then  Tom  and  Ned  climbed 
from  the  cockpit,  throwing  off  goggles  and  hel- 
mets as  they  ran  to  the  shore  where  there  were 
several  rowboats  moored. 

"And  a  little  old-fashioned  naphtha  launch! 
By  all  that's  lucky !"  cried  Tom.  "I  didn't  think 
they  made  these  any  more.  If  she  only  works 
now !" 

There  was  a  little  dock  at  this  point  on  the 
lake,  and  the  boats  appeared  to  be  held  at  it  for 
hire.  But  no  one  was  in  charge,  and  Tom  and 
Ned  made  free  with  what  they  found.  They  con- 
sidered they  had  this  right  in  the  emergency. 

Jhe  naphtha  launch  was  chained  and  padlocked 


COALS  OF  FIRE  131 

to  the  dock,  but  using  an  oar  Tom  burst  the 
chain. 

"Get  one  of  the  rowboats  and  fasten  it  to  the 
back  of  the  launch!"  Tom  directed  Ned.  "I 
don't  believe  this  craft  will  hold  them  all,"  and 
he  nodded  toward  those  aboard  the  sinking  boat 
■ — for  it  was  only  too  plainly  sinking  now. 

"All  right!"  voiced  Ned.  "I'm  with  you. 
Can  you  get  that  engine  to  work?" 

"She's  humming  now,"  announced  Tom,  as  he 
turned  on  the  naphtha,  and  threw  in  a  blazing 
match  to  ignite  it,  this  act  saving  his  hand. 
Naphtha  engines  are  a  trifle  treacherous. 

A  few  moments  later,  though  not  as  quickly 
as  a  gasoline  craft  could  have  been  gotten  under 
way,  Tom  was  steering  the  small  launch  out  and 
away  from  the  dock,  and  toward  the  craft  whence 
came  the  faint  calls  for  help.  Behind  them  Tom 
and  Ned  towed  a  large  rowboat. 

Tom  speeded  the  naphtha  craft  to  its  limit,  and, 
fortunately  for  those  in  danger,  it  was  a  fast 
boat.  In  less  time  than  they  had  thought  possible, 
the  young  inventor  and  his  chum  were  near  the 
boat  that  was  now  low  in  the  water — so  low,  in 
fact,  that  her  rail  was  all  but  awash. 

"Oh,  take  us  out!  Save  us!"  screamed  some 
of  the  girls. 

"Take  it  easy  now,"  advised  Tom,  approach- 


132     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

ing  with  care.  "We've  got  room  for  you  all. 
Ned,  get  back  in  the  rowboat  and  bring  that 
alongside — on  the  other  side.  We'll  take  you  all 
in,"  he  added. 

"Girls  first !"  called  Ned  sternly,  as  he  saw  one 
young  fellow  about  to  scramble  into  the  naphtha 
boat. 

"Sure,  girls  first!"  agreed  the  skipper  of  the 
disabled  craft.  "Hit  a  submerged  log,"  he  ex- 
plained to  Tom,  as  the  work  of  rescue  proceeded. 
"Stove  a  hole  in  the  bow,  but  we  stuffed  coats 
and  things  in,  and  made  it  a  slow  leak.  Kept  the 
engine  going  as  long  as  we  could,  but  I  thought 
no  one  would  ever  come!  Lucky  you  happened 
to  see  us  from  up  there !" 

"Yes,"  assented  Tom  shortly.  He  and  Ned 
were  too  busy  to  talk  much,  as  they  were  aiding 
in  getting  some  hysterical  girls  and  young  women 
into  the  two  sound  craft.  And  when  the  last  of 
the  picnic  party  had  been  taken  off,  the  boat  with 
a  hole  in  it  gave  a  sudden  lurch,  there  was  a  gur- 
gling, bubbling  sound,  and  she  sank  quickly. 

Tom  and  Ned  had  anticipated  this,  however, 
and  had  their  craft  well  out  of  the  way  of  the 
suction. 

"You'll  all  have  to  sit  quiet,"  Tom  warned  his 
passengers  as  he  took  Ned's  boat,  with  her  load, 


COALS  OF  FIRE  133 

in  tow.  "I've  got  about  all  the  law  allows  me  to 
carry,"  he  added  grimly. 

"Oh,  what  ever  would  we  have  done  without 
you?"  half  sobbed  one  girl. 

"I  guess  you  could  have  managed  to  swim 
ashore,"  Tom  answered,  not  wanting  to  make  too 
much  of  his  effort. 

Then  more  rescue  boats  came  up,  but  those  in 
the  naphtha  craft,  and  Ned's  smaller  one,  refused 
to  be  transferred,  and  remained  with  our  friends 
until  safely  landed  at  the  dock. 

Receiving  the  half-hysterical  thanks  of  the 
party,  and  leaving  them  to  explain  matters  to  the 
owner  of  the  borrowed  boats,  Ned  and  Tom  went 
back  to  the  Lucifer,  and  were  soon  aloft  again. 

"Pretty  slick  act,  Tom,"  remarked  Ned. 

"Oh,  it's  all  in  the  day's  work,"  was  the  answer. 

He  had  all  but  perfected  his  big  fire-extinguish- 
ing aeroplane,  and  was  contemplating  means  by 
which  he  could  give  a  demonstration  to  the  fire 
department  of  some  big  city,  when  Mr.  Baxter 
asked  to  see  Tom  one  day.  There  was  a  look  on 
the  face  of  the  chemist  that  caused  Tom  to  ex- 
claim with  a  good  deal  of  concern : 

"What's  the  matter?" 

"Only  the  same  old  trouble,"  was  the  dis- 
couraged answer.     "I  can't  get  on  the  track  of 


134     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

my  lost  secret  formulae.  If  I  had  Field  and 
Melling  here  now  I — I'd " 

He  did  not  finish  his  threat,  but  the  look  on  his 
face  was  enough  to  show  his  righteous  anger. 

"I  wish  we  could  do  something  to  those  fel- 
lows!" exclaimed  Tom  energetically.  "If  we 
only  had  some  direct  evidence  against  themt" 

"I've  got  evidence  enough — in  my  own  mind !" 
declared  Mr.  Baxter. 

"Unfortunately  that  doesn't  do  in  law,"  re- 
turned Tom.  "But  now  that  I  have  this  airship 
fire-fighter  craft  so  nearly  finished,  I  can  devote 
more  time  to  your  troubles,  Mr.  Baxter." 

"Oh,  I  don't  want  you  bothered  over  my 
troubles,"  said  the  chemist  "You  have  enough 
of  your  own.  But  I'm  at  my  wit's  end  what  to 
do  next."  **k 

"If  it  is  money  matters,"  began  Tom. 

"It's  partly  that,  yes,"  said  the  other,  in  a  low 
voice.  "If  I  had  those  dye  formulae,  I'd  be  a  rich 
man." 

"Well,  let  me  help  you  temporarily,"  begged 
^Tom.  And  the  upshot  of  the  talk  was  that  he  en- 
gaged Mr.  Baxter  to  do  certain  research  work  in 
the  Swift  laboratories  until  such  time  as  the 
chemist  could  perfect  certain  other  inventions  on 
which  he  was  working. 

In  return  for  his  kindness  to  a  fellow  laborer, 


COALS  OF  FIRE  135 

Tom  received  from  Mr.  Baxter  some  valuable 
hints  about  fire-extinguishing  chemicals,  one  hint, 
alone,  serving  to  bring  about  a  curious  situation. 

It  was  several  days  after  the  accident  to  the 
motor  boat  from  which  the  young  inventor  and 
Ned  Newton  had  rescued  the  party  of  pleasure 
seekers  that  Tom  was  visited  by  Mr.  Damon, 
who  drove  over  in  his  car. 

"Have  you  anything  special  to  do,  Tom?"  asked 
the  eccentric  man.  "If  you  haven't  I  wish  you'd 
take  a  ride  with  me.  Not  for  mere  pleasure  f 
Bless  my  excursion  ticket,  don't  think  that,  Tom  f* 
tried  his  friend  quickly. 

"I  know  better  than  to  ask  you  out  for  a 
pleasure  jaunt.  But  I  have  become  interested  in 
a  certain  candy-making  machine  that  a  man  over 
in  Newmarket  is  anxious-"to  sell  me  a  share  in, 
and  I'd  like  to  get  your  opinion.  Can  you  run 
■over?" 

"Yes,"  Tom  answered.  "As  it  happens  I  am 
going  to  Newmarket  myself." 

"Oh,  I  forgot  about  Mary  Nestor  being  there  !"■ 
laughed  Mr.  Damon.  "Sly  dog,  Tom!  Sly 
dog !"  and  he  nudged  the  youth  in  the  ribs. 

"It  isn't  altogether  Mary.  Though  I  am  going 
to  see  her,"  Tom  admitted.  "It  has  to  do  with  a 
little  apparatus  I  am  getting  up.  I  can  capture 
several  birds  in  the  same  auto,  so  I'll  go  along." 


136     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

'This  pleased  Mr.  Damon,  and  he  and  Tom  were 
soon  speeding  over  the  road.  It  was  just  outside 
Newmarket  that  they  saw  an  automobile  stalled 
at  the  foot  of  a  hill  which  they  topped.  It 
needed  but  a  glance  to  show  that  there  was 
serious  trouble.  As  Mr.  Damon's  car  went  down 
the  slope  two  men  could  be  seen  leaping  from  the 
other  machine.  And,  as  they  did  so,  flames  burst 
out  of  the  rear  of  the  stalled  machine. 

"Fire !  Fire !"  cried  Mr.  Damon,  rather  need- 
lessly it  would  seem,  as  any  one  could  see  the 
blaze. 

"Another  chance!"  exclaimed  Tom,  reaching 
down  between  his  feet  for  a  wrapped  object  he 
had  placed  in  Mr.  Damon's  car.  "It's  Field  and 
Melling !"  he  cried.  "The  two  men  who  boasted 
of  having  put  it  over  on  Mr.  Baxter.  Their  car* 
is  blazing.  Here's  where  I  get  a  chance  to  heap 
coals  of  fire  on  their  heads !"■ 


CHAPTER  XVI, 


VIOLENT   THREATS 


Tom  Swift's  companion  in  the  automobile  was 
sufficiently  acquainted  with  this  old  expression  to 
understand  readily  what  it  meant.  And  as  he 
directed  his  car  as  close  as  was  safe  to  the  blazing 
car,  Mr.  Damon  asked : 

"Are  you  going  to  put  out  that  fire  for  them, 
Tom?" 

"I'm  going  to  try,"  was  the  grim  answer. 

The  young  inventor  was  rapidly  taking  out  of 
wrapping  paper  a  metal  cylinder  with  a  short 
nozzle  on  one  end  and  a  handle  on  the  other.  It 
was,  obviously,  a  hand  fire  extinguisher  of  a  type 
familiar  to  all. 

"Wait  Tom,  I'll  slow  up  a  little  more,"  said 
Mr.  Damon,  as  he  applied  the  brakes  with  more 
force.  "Bless  my  court  plaster !  don't  jump  and 
injure  yourself." 

But  Tom  Swift  was  sufficiently  agile  to  leap 
from  the  automobile  when  it  was  still  making 
good  speed.  He  did  not  want  Mr.  Damon  to  ap- 
137 


138     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS_ 

proach  too  close  to  the  burning  car,  for  there 
might  be  an  explosion.  At  the  same  time,  he 
rather  discounted  the  risk  to  himself,  for  he  ran 
right  in,  while  the  two  men,  who  had  leaped  from 
the  blazing  machine,  hurried  to  a  safe  distance. 

[Tom  held  in  readiness  a  small  hand  extin* 
guisher.  It  was  one  he  had  constructed  from  an 
old  one  found  in  the  shop,  but  it  contained  some 
of  his  own  chemicals,  the  original  solution  hav- 
ing been  used  at  some  time  or  other.  It  was  the 
intention  of  the  young  inventor  to  put  on  the 
market  a  house-size  extinguisher  after  he  had  dis- 
posed of  his  big  airship  invention. 

"Look  out  there!  The  gasoline  tank  may  go 
up !"  cried  Field,  the  small  man  with  the  big  voice. 

Tom  did  not  answer,  but  ran  in  as  close  as  was 
necessary  and  began  to  play  a  small  stream  from 
his  hand  extinguisher  on  the  blazing  car.  He 
was  thus  able  to  direct  the  white,  frothy  chemical 
better  than  when  he  had  shot  it  from  the  airship, 
and  in  a  few  seconds  only  some  wisps  of  curling 
smoke  remained  to  tell  of  the  presence  of  the 
fire.  The  automobile  was  badly  charred,  but  the 
damage  was  not  past  redemption. 

"Bless  my  check  book !  you  did  the  trick,  Tom,'f 
cried  Mr.  Damon,  as  he  alighted  and  came  up  to 
congratulate  his  companion. 

"Yes.     But  this  wasn't  much,"  Tom  said.     "I 


VIOLENT  THREATS  139 

didn't  use  half  the  charge.  Short  circuit?"  he 
asked  Field  and  Melling  who  were  now  returning, 
having  seen  that  the  danger  was  passed. 

"I — I  guess  so,"  replied  Melling,  in  his  squeaky 
voice.     "We — we  are  much  obliged  to  you." 

"No  thanks  necessary,"  said  Tom,  a  bit  shortly, 
as  he  turned  to  go  back  with  Mr.  Damon  to  their 
car.  "It's  what  any  one  would  do  under  like 
circumstances." 

"Only  you  did  it  very  effectively,"  observed 
Field. 

Tom  was  wondering  if  they  knew  who  he  was 
and  of  his  association  with  Josephus  Baxter.  He 
did  not  believe  the  men  recognized  him  as  the  per- 
son who  had  been  at  the  Meadow  Inn  one  day 
;w*ith  Mary.  They  had  hardly  glanced  at  him 
then,  he  thought. 

"That's  a  mighty  powerful  extinguisher  you 
have  there,  young  man,"  said  Melling.  "May  I 
ask  the  make  of  it?  We  ought  to  carry  one  like 
it  on  our  car,"  he  told  his  companion. 

"It  is  the  Swift  Aerial  Fire  Extinguisher,"  said 
Tom  gravely,  with  a  glance  at  Mr.  Damon. 

"The  Swift — Tom  Swift?"  exclaimed  Melling. 
"Do  you  mean " 

"I  am  Tom  Swift,"  put  in  the  young  inventor 
quickly.  "And  this  is  one  of  my  inventions.  I 
might  add,"  he  said  slowly,  looking  first  Melling 


140     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS" 

and  then  Field  full  in  the  face,  "that  I  was  aided 
in  perfecting  the  chemical  extinguisher  by 
Josephus  Baxter." 

The  effect  on  the  two  men,  whom  Tom  believed 
were  scoundrels,  was  marked. 

"Baxter!"  cried  Field. 

"Is  he  associated  with  you?"  demanded  Mel- 
ling. 

"Not  officially,"  Tom  answered,  delighted  at 
the  chance  to  "rub  it  in,"  as  he  expressed  it  later. 
"I  have  been  helping  him,  and  he  has  been  help- 
ing me  since  he  lost  his  dye  formulae  in — in  your 
fire!" 

"Does  he  say  he  lost  them  in  the  fire  of  our 
factory?"  demanded  Field  aggressively. 

"He  believes  he  did,"  asserted  Tom.  "I  helped 
carry  him  out  of  the  laboratory  of  your  place 
when  he  was  almost  dead  from  suffocation.  He 
remembers  that  he  had  the  formulae  then,  but 
since  has  been  unable  to  find  them." 

"He'd  better  be  careful  how  he  accuses  us!" 
blustered  Field,  in  his  big  voice. 

"We  could  have  the  law  on  him  for  that!*1 
squeaked  the  bigger  Melling. 

"He  hasn't  accused  you,"  said  Tom  easily, 
"He  only  says  the  formulae  disappeared  during 
the  fire  in  your  place,  and  he  is  just  wondering, 
that  is  all — just  wondering!" 


VIOLENT  THREATS  141 

"Well,  he — we,  I — that  is,  we  haven't  any- 
thing from  Baxter  that  we  didn't  pay  for,"  de- 
clared Field.  "And  if  he  goes  about  saying  such 
things  he'd  better  be  careful.     I  am  going " 

But  he  suddenly  became  silent  as  his  com- 
panion's elbow  nudged  him.  And  then  Melling 
took  up  the  talk,  saying : 

"We're  much  obliged  to  you,  Mr.  Swift,  for 
putting  out  the  fire  in  our  car.  But  for  you  it 
would  have  been  destroyed.  And  if  you  ever 
want  to  sell  the  extinguisher  process  of  yours, 
you'll  find  us  in  the  market.  We  are  going  into 
the  dye  business  on  a  large  scale,  and  we  can  al- 
ways use  new  chemical  combinations." 

"My  extinguisher  is  not  for  sale,"  said  Tom 
dryly.  "Come  on,  Mr.  Damon.  We  can  take 
you  into  town,  I  suppose,"  Tom  went  on,  looking 
at  his  eccentric  friend  for  confirmation,  and  find- 
ing it  in  a  nod.  "But  I  doubt  if  we  could  tow 
you,  as  we  are  in  a  hurry,  and " 

"Oh,  thank  you,  we'll  look  over  our  machine 
before  we  leave  it,"  said  Melling.  "It  may  be 
that  we  can  get  it  to  go." 

Tom  doubted  this,  after  a  look  at  the  charred 
section,  but  he  easily  understood  the  dislike  of  the 
men,  upon  whose  heads  he  had  heaped  coals  of 
fire,  to  ride  with  him  and  Mr.  Damon. 

So  Field  and  Melling  were  left  standing  in  the 


142     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG.  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

road  near  their  stranded  car,  which,  but  for  Tom 
Swift's  prompt  action,  would  have  been  only  a 
heap  of  ruins. 

Tom  first  visited  the  man  who  had  a  candy 
machine,  in  which  the  owner  wanted  to  interest 
Mr.  Damon.  After  seeing  a  demonstration  and 
giving  his  opinion,  he  attended  to  his  own  affairs, 
in  which  his  hand  extinguisher  played  a  part. 
[Then  he  called  on  Mary  Nestor  at  her  relative's 
home. 

"Oh,  but  it's  good  to  see  you  again,  Tom!" 
cried  Mary,  after  the  first  greeting.  "What  have 
you  been  doing,  and  what's  all  that  white  stuff  on 
your  coat  ?" 

"Fire  extinguisher  chemical,"  Tom  answered, 
and  he  related  what  had  happened. 

"What's  the  matter  with  your  aunt,  Mary? 
She  seems  worried  about  something,"  he  said, 
after  the  aunt  with  whom  Mary  was  staying  had 
come  in,  greeted  Tom  briefly,  and  gone  out  again. 

"Oh,  she  and  Uncle  Jasper  are  worried  over 
money  matters,  I  believe,"  Mary  said.  "Uncle 
Jasper  invested  heavily  in  the  Landmark  Build- 
ing here,  and  now,  I  understand,  it  is  discovered 
that  it  was  put  up  in  violation  of  the  building 
laws — something  about  not  being  fire-proof. 
Uncle  Jasper  is  likely  to  lose  considerable  money. 

"It  isn't  that  it  will  make  him  so  very  poor/' 


VIOLENT  THREATS  143 

Mary  went  on.  "But  Uncle  Barton  Keith — you 
remember  you  went  on  the  undersea  search  with 
him — Uncle  Barton  warned  Uncle  Jasper  not  to 
go  into  the  Landmark  Building  scheme." 

"And  Uncle  Jasper  did,  I  take  it,"  said  Tom. 

"Yes.  And  now  he's  sorry,  for  not  only  may 
he  lose  money,  but  Uncle  Barton  will  laugh  at 
him,  and  Uncle  Jasper  hates  that  worse  than  los- 
ing a  lot.  But  tell  me  about  yourself,  Tom. 
What  have  you  been  doing?  And  is  Eradicate 
going  to  get  better?" 

"I  hope  so,"  Tom  said.     "As  for  me " 

But  he  was  interrupted  by  loud  voices  in  the 
hall.  He  recognized  the  tones  of  Mary's  Unci® 
Jasper  saying : 

"They're  scoundrels,  that's  what  they  are! 
Just  plain  scoundrels!  When  I  accuse  them  o£ 
swindling  me  and  others  in  that  Landmark  Build- 
ing deal  they  have  the  nerve  to  ask  me  to  invest 
money  in  some  secret  dye  formulae  they  claim 
will  revolutionize  the  industry!  Bah!  They're 
scoundrels,  that's  what  they  are — Field  and  Mel- 
ling  are  scoundrels,  and  I'm  going  to  have  them 
arrested !" 


CHAPTER  XVII 


A   TOWN   BLAZE 


Mary's  uncle,  Jasper  Blake,  always  an  im- 
petuous man,  opened  the  door  so  quickly  that 
Xom,  who  was  standing  near  it  talking  to  Mary, 
barely  had  time  to  move  aside. 

"Oh,  Tom,  excuse  me!  Didn't  see  you!" 
bruskly  went  on  Mr.  Blake.  "But  this  thing  has 
gotten  on  my  nerves  and  I  guess  I'm  a  bit  wrought 
up. 

"There  isn't  any  guessing  about  it,  Uncle 
Jasper,"  said  Mary,  with  a  laugh  and  a  look  at 
Tom  to  warn  him  not  to  tell  her  relative  that  he 
had  just  befriended  Field  and  Melling.  "For," 
as  Mary  said  to  Tom  later,  "he  would  positively 
rave  at  you." 

Tom  was  wise  enough  to  realize  this,  and  so, 
after  some  laughing  reference  to  the  effect  that 
he  would  have  to  wear  protective  armor  if  he 
stood  near  doors  when  Mary's  uncle  opened  them 
so  suddenly,  the  conversation  became  general. 

"I  hope  you  never  get  roped  in  as  I  have 
been,"  said  Mr.  Blake,  as  he  sat  down.  "Those 
144 


A  TOWN  BLAZE  145 

scoundrels,  Field  and  Melling,  would  rob  a  baby 
of  his  first  tooth  if  they  had  the  chance !" 

"No,  I  am  not  likely  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  them ;  though  I  have  met  them,"  and  Tom 
gave  Mary  a  glance.  "But  did  I  hear  you  say 
they  are  embarking  on  a  dye  enterprise?"  he 
asked.  "I  couldn't  help  overhearing  what  you 
said  in  the  hall,"  he  explained. 

"That's  the  story  they  tell,"  said  Uncle  Jasper. 
"I  was  foolish  enough  to  invest  in  the  Landmark 
Building,  and  now  I'm  likely  to  lose  it  all  in  a 
lawsuit." 

"I  mentioned  it,"  said  Mary. 

"And  that  isn't  the  worst,"  went  on  Mr.  Blake. 
c'But  Barton— that's  your  friend  of  the  submarine 
■—will  give  me  the  laugh,  for  he  was  asked  to  in- 
vest in  the  same  building,  and  didn't." 

"Oh,  maybe  it  will  all  turn  out  right,"  said  Tom 
consolingly.  "My  friend  Mr.  Damon  has  a  little 
stock  in  the  same  structure." 

"Nothing  those  two  scoundrels  have  anything 
to  do  with  will  turn  out  right,"  declared  Mary's 
uncle.  "And  to  think  of  their  nerve  when  they 
ask  me  to  go  in  with  them  on  a  dye  scheme !" 

"That's  what  interests  me,"  said  Tom. 

"Well,  take  my  advice  and  don't  become  inter- 
ested to  the  extent  of  investing  any  money," 
warned  Mr.  Blake.     "I'm  not  going  to." 


146     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"I  didn't  mean  that  way,"  said  Tom.  "But  I 
happen  to  be  acquainted  with  an  expert  dye  maker; 
who  lost  some  secret  formulae  during  a  fire  in 
Field  and  Melling's  factory." 

"You  don't  say  so !"  cried  Mr.  Blake.  "Tom 
Swift,  there's  something  wrong  here!  Let  you 
and  me  talk  this  over.  I  begin  to  see  how  I  may 
be  able  to  take  a  peep  through  the  hole  in  the 
grindstone,"  a  colloquial  expression  which  was  as 
well  understood  by  Tom  as  were  some  of  Mr. 
Damon's  blessing  remarks. 

"If  you're  going  to  talk  business  I  think  I'll 
excuse  myself,"  said  Mary. 

"Don't  go,"  urged  Tom,  but  she  said  to  him 
that  she  would  see  him  before  he  left,  and  then 
she  went  out,  leaving  her  uncle  and  the  young 
inventor  busily  engaged  in  talking. 

But  though  Mr.  Blake  had  certain  suspicions 
regarding  Field  and  Melling,  and  though  Tom 
Swift,  too,  believed  they  had  something  to  do  with 
the  disappearance  of  Baxter's  secret  formulae,  it 
was  another  matter  to  prove  anything. 

Impetuous  as  he  often  was,  Mr.  Blake  was  for 
calling  in  the  police  at  once,  and  having  the  two 
men  arrested.     But  Tom  counseled  delay. 

"Wait  until  we  get  more  evidence  against 
them,"  he  urged. 


A  TOWN  BLAZE  14^ 

"But  they  may  skip  out!"  objected  Mary's 
uncle. 

"They  won't  with  that  Landmark  Building  on 
their  hands,"  said  the  young  inventor. 

"Their  hands!  Huh!  They'll  take  precious 
good  care  that  the  trouble  and  responsibility  of  it 
are  on  other  people's  hands  before  they  go,"  de- 
clared Mr.  Blake.  "However,  I  suppose  you're 
right.  Barton  Keith  sets  a  deal  by  your  opinion 
since  that  undersea  search,  and  while  I  don't  al- 
ways agree  with  him,  I  do  in  this  case.  Es- 
pecially since  he  is  likely  to  have  the  laugh  on 
me. 

"Oh,  I  wouldn't  count  everything  lost  in  that 
building  deal,"  said  Tom.  "A  way  may  be  found 
out  of  the  trouble  yet.  But  I  must  be  getting 
back.  Dr.  Henderson  was  to  give  a  report  to-day 
on  the  condition  of  Eradicate's  eyes,  and  I  want  to 
be  there." 

"Mary  was  saying  something  about  your  faith- 
ful old  retainer  being  in  trouble,"  said  Mr.  Blake. 
"I'm  sorry  to  hear  about  it." 

"We  are  all  sorry  for  poor  Rad,"  replied  Tom 
slowly.  "I  only  hope  he  gets  his  sight  back.  His 
last  days  will  be  very  sad  if  he  doesn't." 

Tom  found  Mary  waiting  for  him  after  he  had 
left  her  uncle,  and,  after  a  short  talk  with  her, 


148     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

he  made  ready  to  ride  back  with  Mr.  Damon,  who, 
after  having  attended  to  several  other  matters, 
was  now  outside  in  his  car. 

"When  are  you  coming  home,  Mary?"  Tom 
asked. 

"In  a  week  or  two,"  she  answered.  "I'll  send 
word  when  I'm  ready  and  you  can  come  and  get 
me." 

"Delighted!"  declared  Tom.     "Don't  forget!" 

During  the  ride  home  the  young  inventor  was 
unusually  silent,  so  much  so  that  Mr.  Damon 
finally  exclaimed : 

"Bless  my  phonograph,  Tom  Swift!  but  what 
is  the  matter?  Has  Mary  broken  the  engage- 
ment?" 

"Oh,  no,  nothing  like  that,"  was  the  answer. 
"Only  I'm  wondering  about  Eradicate,  and — 
other  matters." 

Other  matters  had  to  do  with  what  Mary's 
uncle  had  told  Tom  about  the  interest  manifested 
by  Field  and  Melling  in  some  dye  industry. 

Tom's  forebodings  regarding  his  colored  helper 
were  nearly  borne  out,  for  Dr.  Henderson 
gloomily  shook  his  head  when  asked  for  the  ver- 
dict. 

"It's  too  early  to  say  for  a  certainty,"  replied 
the  medical  man,  "but  I  am  not  as  hopeful  as  I 
was,  Tom,  I'm  sorry  to  say." 


A  TOWN  BLAZE 


149 


"I'm  sorry  to  hear  it,"  returned  Tom.  "Is 
there  anything  we  can  do — any  hospital  to  which 
we  can  send  him  for  special  treatment  ?" 

"No,  he  is  doing  as  well  as  he  can  be  expected 
to  right  here.  Besides,  he  has  his  friends  around 
him,  and  the  companionship  of  that  giant  of 
yours,  absurd  as  it  may  seem,  is  really  a  tonic  to 
Eradicate.  I  never  saw  such  devotion  on  the  part 
of  any  one." 

"Koku  has  certainly  changed,"  said  Tom. 
"He  and  Rad  used  always  to  be  quarreling.  But 
I  guess  that  is  all  over,"  and  Tom  sighed. 

"Oh,  I  wouldn't  say  that,"  declared  the  medical 
man.  "I  haven't  given  up,  though  there  are  some 
symptoms  I  do  not  like.  However,  I  am  going 
to  wait  a  week  and  then  make  another  test." 

Tom  knew  that  the  week  would  be  an  anxious 
one  for  him,  but,  as  it  developed,  he  had  so  much 
to  do  in  the  next  few  days  that,  for  the  time  be- 
ing, he  rather  forgot  about  Eradicate. 

Field  and  Melling,  he  heard  incidentally,  had 
their  machine  towed  to  a  garage  for  repairs,  but 
beyond  that  no  word  came  from  the  two  men. 
Josephus  Baxter  remained  at  work  over  his  dye 
formulas  in  one  of  Tom's  laboratories,  but  the 
young  inventor  did  not  see  much  of  the  dis- 
couraged old  man. 

Tom  did  not  tell  of  the  encounter  with  Field 


150     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

and  Melling  and  of  extinguishing  the  fire  in  their 
car,  for  he  knew  it  would  only  excite  Mr.  Baxter, 
and  do  no  good. 

It  was  within  a  few  days  of  the  time  when 
Tom  was  to  call  in  a  committee  of  fire  insurance 
experts  to  give  them  a  demonstration  of  the 
efficiency  of  his  aerial  fire-fighting  machine.  He 
was  putting  the  finishing  touches  to  his  craft  and 
its  extinguishing-dropping  devices  when  he  re- 
ceived a  call  from  Mr.  Baxter. 

"Well,  how  goes  it?"  asked  Tom,  trying  to  in- 
fuse some  cheer  into  his  voice. 

"Not  very  well,"  was  the  answer.  "I've  tried, 
in  every  way  I  know,  to  get  on  the  track  of  the 
missing  methods  perfected  by  that  Frenchman, 
but  I  can't.  I'd  be  a  millionaire  now,  if  I  had 
that  dye  information." 

"Do  you  really  think  they  have  them — actually 
have  the  formulas?"  asked  Tom. 

"I  certainly  do.  And  the  reason  I  believe  so 
is  that  I  was  over  at  a  chemical  supply  factory 
the  other  day  when  an  order  came  in  for  a  quan- 
tity of  a  very  rare  chemical." 

"What  has  that  to  do  with  it?"  asked  Tom. 

"This  chemcial  is  an  ingredient  called  for  by 
one  of  the  dye  formulae  that  were  stolen  from  me. 
I  never  heard  of  its  being  used  for  anything  else. 
J  at  once  became  suspicious.     I  learned  that  this 


A  TOWN  BLAZE  151 

chemical  had  been  ordered  sent  to  Field  and  Mel- 
ling  in  their  new  offices  in  the  Landmark  Build- 
ing." 

"Maybe  they  intend  to  use  it  in  making  a  new 
kind  of  fireworks,"  suggested  Tom. 

Mr.  Baxter  shook  his  head. 

"That  chemical  never  would  work  in  a  sky- 
rocket or  Roman  candle,"  he  said.  "I'm  sure 
they're  trying  to  cheat  me  out  of  my  dye  formulae. 
If  I  could  only  prove  it !" 

"That's  the  trouble,"  agreed  Tom.  "But  I'll 
give  you  all  the  help  I  can.  And,  come  to  think 
of  it,  I  believe  you  might  interest  Mr.  Blake.  He 
has  no  love  for  Field  and  Melling,  and  he  has 
several  keen  lawyers  on  his  staff.  I  believe  it 
would  be  a  good  thing  for  you  to  talk  to  Mr. 
Blake." 

"Please  give  me  a  letter  of  introduction  to 
him,"  begged  Mr.  Baxter.  "What  I  need  is  legal 
talent  and  capital  to  fight  these  scoundrels.  Mr. 
Blake  may  supply  both." 

"He  may,"  agreed  Tom.  "I'll  fix  it  so  you  can 
meet  him.  But  what  do  you  think  of  this  com- 
bination, Mr.  Baxter?  It  is  my  very  latest  solu- 
tion for  putting  out  fires.  I'm  loading  an  airship 
up  with  some  of  the  bomb  containers  now, 
and " 

Tom's  further  remarks  were  interrupted  by  the 


152     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

noise  of  shouting  and  tumult  in  the  street,  and  a 
moment  later  yells  could  be  heard  of  : 

"Fire!     Fire!     Fire!" 

"Another  blaze !"  exclaimed  Mr.  Baxter,  raising 
the  shades  which  had  been  drawn,  since  night  had 
fallen. 

"And  not  far  away,"  said  Tom,  as  he  caught 
the  reflection  of  a  red  gleam  in  the  sky. 

There  was  a  ring  at  the  front  doorbell,  and  al- 
most at  once  Ned  Newton's  voice  called : 

"Tom!  Tom  Swift!  There's  quite  a  fire  in 
town!  Don't  you  want  to  try  your  new  appa- 
ratus on  it  ?" 

"The  very  chance !"  exclaimed  the  young  inven- 
tor. "Come  on,  Mr.  Baxter.  There's  room  in 
the  airship  for  you  and  Ned.  I  want  you  to  see 
how  my  chemical  works !" 

Without  waiting  for  a  reply  from  the  chemist, 
[Tom  caught  him  by  the  hand  and  led  him  toward 
the  side  door  that  gave  egress  to  the  yard  where 
one  of  the  airships  was  housed.  Tom  caught 
sight  of  Ned,  who  was  hastening  toward  him. 

"Big  fire,  Tom !"  said  the  young  manager  again. 
"Fierce  one !" 

"I'm  going  to  try  to  put  it  out !"  Tom  answered. 
"Want  to  come?" 

"Sure  thing !"  answered  Ned. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


FINISHING   TOUCHES 


Tom  Swift  and  Ned  Newton  were  so  accus- 
tomed to  acting  quickly  and  in  emergencies  that 
it  did  not  take  them  long  to  run  out  the  airship, 
which  Tom  had  in  readiness,  not  especially  for 
this  emergency,  but  to  demonstrate  his  new  appa- 
ratus to  a  committee  of  fire  underwriters  whom 
he  had  invited  to  call  in  a  few  days. 

"Take  this,  if  you  will,  Mr.  Baxter!"  cried 
Tom,  giving  the  chemist  a  metal  container.  "It's 
a  little  different  combination  from  the  extin- 
guisher I  already  have  in  the  machine.  Maybe 
I'll  get  a  chance  to  try  it." 

"You're  going  to  have  all  the  chance  you  want, 
Tom,  by  the  looks  of  that  blaze,"  commented  Ned 
Newton. 

"It  does  look  like  quite  a  fire,"  observed  Tom, 
as  he  gazed  up  at  the  sky,  where  the  reflection 
was  turning  to  a  brighter  red. 

Outside  in  the  streets  near  the  Swift  house  and 
shops  could  be  heard  the  rattle  of  fire  apparatus, 
i53 


154     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

the  patter  of  running  feet,  and  many  shouts  from 
excited  men  and  boys. 

"Any  idea  what  it  is,  Ned  ?"  asked  Tom,  as  he 
motioned  to  Mr.  Baxter  to  climb  into  the  air- 
craft. 

"Some  one  said  it  was  the  new  Normal  School. 
But  that's  farther  to  the  north,"  was  Ned's 
answer.  "By  the  way  the  blaze  has  increased 
since  I  first  saw  it,  I'd  take  it  to  be  the  lumber- 
yard." 

"That  would  make  a  monster  blaze !"  observed 
Tom.  "I  don't  believe  I'll  have  chemicals  enough 
for  that,"  and  he  looked  at  the  rather  small 
supply  in  his  craft.  "However,  I  haven't  time  to 
get  any  more.  Besides,  they'll  have  the  regular 
department  on  the  job,  and  this  isn't  a  skyscraper, 
anyhow." 

"No,  we'll  have  to  go  to  New  York  or  New- 
market for  one  of  those,"  observed  Ned.  "All 
ready,  Tom?" 

"All  ready,"  said  the  young  inventor,  as  Ned 
took  his  place  beside  Mr.  Baxter. 

"What's  the  matter,  Tom?"  asked  the  voice  of 
Mr.  Swift,  as  he  came  out  into  the  yard,  having 
been  attracted  by  the  flashing  lights  and  the  noise 
of  the  aircraft  motor,  as  Tom  gave  it  a  pre- 
liminary test. 


FINISHING,  TOUCHES  1 55 

"There's  a  fire  in  town,"  Tom  answered.  "I'm 
going  to  see  if  they  need  my  services." 

"Guess  there  isn't  any  question  about  that," 
said  his  business  manager. 

Tom's  father,  who  was  suffering  the  infirmities 
of  age,  was  in  the  habit  of  retiring  early,  and  he 
had  dozed  off  in  his  chair  directly  after  supper,  to 
be  awakened  by  the  shouting  and  confusion  about 
the  place. 

"Take  care  of  yourself,  my  boy!"  he  advised, 
as  there  came  a  moment  of  silence  before  the 
throttle  of  the  aircraft  was  opened  to  send  it  on 
its  upward  journey.  "Don't  take  too  many 
risks." 

"I  won't,"  Tom  promised.  "We'll  be  back 
Soon." 

Then  came  the  roar  of  the  motor  as  Tom  cut 
out  the  muffler  to  gain  speed  and,  a  moment  later, 
he  and  his  two  friends  were  sailing  aloft  with  a 
load  of  fire-extinguishing  chemicals. 

Up  and  up  rose  the  aircraft.  It  was  not  the 
first  time  Mr.  Baxter  had  enjoyed  the  sensation, 
but  he  was  not  enough  of  a  veteran  to  be  immune 
to  the  thrills  nor  to  be  altogether  void  of  fear. 
And  it  was  his  first  night  trip.  Still  he  gave  few 
evidences  of  nervousness. 

"There  she  is!"  cried  Ned,  for  when  the  ex- 


156     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

haust  from  the  motor  was  sent  through  the  new 
muffler  Tom  had  attached  it  was  possible  to  talk 
aboard  the  Lucifer.  The  young  manager  pointed 
down  toward  the  earth,  over  which  the  craft  was 
then  skimming,  though  at  no  great  height. 

"It  is  the  lumberyard !"  exclaimed  Mr.  Baxter 
presently. 

"It  sure  is,"  assented  Tom.  "I  know  I  haven't 
enough  stuff  to  cover  as  big  a  blaze  as  that,  but 
I'll  do  my  best.  Fortunately  there  is  no  wind  to 
speak  of,"  he  added,  as  he  guided  the  craft  in  the 
direction  of  the  fire. 

"What  has  that  to  do  with  it — I  mean  as  far 
as  the  working  of  your  chemical  extinguisher  is 
concerned  ?"  asked  Mr.  Baxter.  "Can't  you  drop 
the  bomb  containers  accurately  in  a  wind  ?" 

"Well,  the  wind  has  to  be  allowed  for  in  drop- 
ping anything  from  an  aeroplane,"  Tom  an- 
swered. "And,  naturally,  it  does  spoil  your  aim 
to  an  extent.  But  the  reason  I'm  glad  there  is  no 
wind  to  speak  of  is  that  the  chemical  blanket  I 
hope  to  spread  over  the  lire  won't  be  so  quickly 
blown  away." 

"Oh,  I  see,"  said  Mr.  Baxter.  "Well,  I'm  glad 
that  you  will  be  able  to  have  a  successful  test  of 
your  invention." 

"The  regular  land  apparatus  is  on  hand,"  ob- 
served Ned,  lor  they  were  now  so  near  the  fire 


FINISHING  TOUCHES  157; 

that  they  could  look  down  and,  in  the  reflection 
from  the  blaze,  could  see  engines,  hose-wagons 
and  hook  and  ladder  trucks  arriving  and  deploy- 
ing to  different  places  of  advantage,  from  which 
to  fight  the  lumberyard  fire  that  was  now  a  roar- 
ing furnace  of  flames. 

"No  skyscraper  work  needed  here,"  observed 
Tom.  "But  it  will  give  me  a  chance  to  use  the 
latest  combination  I  worked  out.  I'll  try  that 
first.     Are  you  ready  with  it,  Mr.  Baxter?" 

"Yes,"  was  the  answer. 

The  young  inventor,  not  heeding  the  cries  of 
wonder  that  arose  from  below  and  paying  no  at- 
tention to  the  uplifted  hands  and  arms  pointing 
to  him,  steered  his  craft  to  a  corner  of  the  yard 
where  there  was  a  small  isolated  fire  in  a  pile  of 
boards.  It  was  Tom's  idea  to  try  his  new  chem- 
ical first  on  this  spot  to  watch  the  effect.  Then 
he  would  turn  loose  all  his  other  containers  of 
the  chemical  mixture  that  had  proved  so  effective 
in  other  tests. 

Attention  of  those  who  had  gathered  to  look 
at  the  fire  was  about  evenly  divided  between  the 
efforts  of  the  regular  department  and  the  pending 
action  by  Tom  Swift.  The  latter  was  not  long  in 
turning  loose  his  latest  sensation. 

"Let  it  go!"  he  cried  to  Mr.  Baxter,  and 
down  into  the  seething  caldron  of  flame  dropped 


158     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

a  thin  sheet-iron  container  of  powerful  chemicals. 

Leaning  over  the  cockpit  of  the  aircraft,  the 
occupants  watched  the  effect.  There  was  a  slight 
explosion  heard,  even  above  the  roar  of  the 
flames,  and  the  tongues  of  fire  in  the  section  where 
Tom's  extinguisher  had  fallen  died  down. 

"Good  work !"  cried  Ned. 

"No!"  answered  Tom,  shaking  his  head.  "I 
was  a  little  afraid  of  this.  Not  enough  carbon 
dioxide  in  this  mixture.  I'll  stick  to  the  one  I 
found  most  effective."  For  the  flames,  after  mo- 
mentarily dying  down,  burst  out  again  in  the  spot 
where  he  had  dropped  the  bomb. 

Tom  wheeled  the  airship  in  a  sharp,  banking 
turn,  and  headed  for  the  heart  of  the  fire  in  the 
lumberyard.  It  was  clearly  getting  beyond  the 
control  of  the  regular  department. 

"How  about  you,  Ned  ?"  called  Tom,  for  he  had 
given  his  chum  charge  of  dropping  the  regular 
bombs  containing  a  large  quantity  of  the  extin- 
guisher Tom  had  practically  adopted. 

"All  ready,"  was  the  answer. 

"Let  'em  go!"  came  the  command,  and  down 
shot  the  dark,  spherical  objects.  They  burst  as 
they  hit  the  ground  or  the  piles  of  blazing  lumber, 
and  at  once  the  powerful  gases  generated  by  the 
mixture  of  several  different  chemicals  were  re- 
leased. 


FINISHING  TOUCHES  159 

Again  the  three  in  the  airship  leaned  eagerly- 
over  the  side  of  the  cockpit  to  watch  the  effect. 
It  was  almost  magical  in  its  action. 

The  bombs  had  been  dropped  into  the  very 
fiercest  heart  of  the  fire,  and  it  was  only  an  in- 
stant before  their  action  was  made  manifest. 

"This  will  do  the  trick !"  cried  Ned.  "I'm  cer- 
tain it  will." 

"I  didn't  have  much  fear  that  it  wouldn't," 
said  Tom.  "But  I  hoped  the  other  would  be 
better,  for  it  is  a  much  cheaper  mixture  to  make, 
and  that  will  count  when  you  come  to  sell  it  to 
big  cities." 

"But  the  fire  is  certainly  dying  down,"  declared 
Mr.  Baxter. 

And  this  was  true.  As  container  after  con- 
tainer of  the  bomb  type  fell  in  different  parts  of 
the  burning  lumberyard,  while  Tom  coursed 
above  it,  the  flames  began  to  be  smothered  in 
various  sections. 

And  from  the  watching  crowds,  as  well  as  from 
the  hard-working  members  of  the  Shopton  fire  de- 
partment, came  cheers  of  delight  and  encourage- 
ment as  they  saw  the  work  of  Tom  Swift's  aerial 
fire-fighting  machine. 

For  he  had,  most  completely,  subdued  what 
threatened  to  be  a  great  fire,  and  when  the  last 
of  his  bombs  had  been  dropped,   so  effective 


160     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

was  the  blanket  of  fire-dampening  gases  spread 
around  that  the  flames  just  naturally  expired,  as 
it  were. 

As  Tom  had  said,  the  absence  of  wind  was  in 
his  favor,  for  the  generated  gases  remained  just 
where  they  were  wanted,  directly  over  the  fire  like 
an  extinguishing  blanket,  and  were  not  blown 
aside  as  would  otherwise  have  been  the  case. 

And,  by  the  peculiar  manner  in  which  his 
chemicals  were  mixed,  Tom  had  made  them  prac- 
tically harmless  for  human  beings  to  breathe. 
Though  the  fire-killing  gases  were  unpleasant, 
there  was  no  danger  to  life  in  them,  and  while 
several  of  the  firemen  made  wry  faces,  and  one  or 
two  were  slightly  ill  from  being  too  close  to  the 
chemicals,  no  one  was  seriously  inconvenienced. 

"Well,  I  guess  that's  all,"  said  Tom,  when  the 
final  bomb  had  been  dropped.  "That  was  the  last 
of  them,  wasn't  it,  Ned?" 

"Yes,  but  you  don't  need  any  more.  The  fire's 
out — or  what  isn't  can  be  easily  handled  by  the 
hose  lines." 

"Good!"  cried  Tom.  "But,  all  the  same,  I 
wish  I  had  been  able  to  make  the  first  mixture 
work." 

"Perhaps  I  can  help  you  with  that,"  suggested 
Mr.  Baxter. 

And  the  following  day,  after  Tom  had  received 


FINISHING  TOUCHES  161 

the  thanks  of  the  town  officials  and  of  the  fire 
department  for  his  work  in  subduing  the  lumber- 
yard blaze,  the  young  inventor  called  Josephus 
Baxter  in  consultation. 

"I  feel  that  I  need  your  help,"  said  the  young 
inventor.  "You  have  been  at  this  chemical  study 
longer  than  I,  and  I  am  willing  to  pay  you  well 
for  your  work.  Of  course  I  can't  make  up  to 
you  the  loss  of  your  dye  formula?.  But  while 
you  are  waiting  for  something  to  turn  up  in  re- 
gard to  them,  you  may  be  glad  to  assist  me." 

"I  will,  and  without  pay,"  said  the  chemist. 

But  Tom  would  not  hear  of  that,  and  together 
he  and  Mr.  Baxter  set  about  putting  the  finishing 
touches  to  Tom's  latest  invention. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


ON    THE   TRAIL, 


"There,  Tom  Swift,  it  ought  to  work  now !" 

Josephus  Baxter  held  up  a  large  laboratory  test 
tube,  in  which  seethed  and  bubbled  some  strange 
mixture,  turning  from  green  to  purple,  then  to 
red,  and  next  to  a  white,  milky  mixture. 

"Do  3'-ou  think  you've  hit  on  the  right  com- 
bination?" asked  the  young  inventor,  whose  latest 
idea,  the  plan  of  righting  fires  in  skyscrapers  from 
an  airship  as  a  vantage  point,  was  taking  up  all 
his  spare  moments. 

"I'm  positive  of  it,"  said  Mr.  Baxter.  "I've 
dabbled  in  chemicals  long  enough  to  be  certain  of 
this,  even  if  I  can't  get  on  the  track  of  the  missing 
dye  formulae." 

"That  certainly  is  too  bad,"  declared  Tom.  "I 
wish  I  could  help  you  as  much  as  you  have  helped 
me. 

"Oh,  you  have  helped  me  a  lot,"  said  the 
chemist.  "You  have  given  me  a  place  to  work, 
much  better  than  the  laboratory  I  had  in  the  old 
162 


ON  THE  TRAIL  163 

fireworks  factory  of  Field  and  Melling.  And 
you  have  paid  me,  more  than  liberally,  for  what 
little  I  have  done  for  you." 

"You've  done  a  lot  for  me,"  declared  Tom. 
"If  it  had  not  been  for  your  help  this  chemical 
compound  would  not  be  nearly  as  satisfactory  as 
it  is,  nor  as  cheap  to  manufacture,  which  is  a  big 
item." 

"Oh,  you  were  on  the  right  track,"  said  Mr. 
Baxter.  "You  would  have  stumbled  on  it  your- 
self in  a  short  time,  I  believe.  But  I  will  say, 
Tom  Swift,  that,  between  us,  we  have  made  a 
compound  that  is  absolutely  fatal  to  fires.  Even 
a  small  quantity  of  it,  dropped  in  the  heart  of  a 
large  blaze,  will  stop  combustion." 

"And  that's  what  I  want,"  declared  Tom.  "I 
think  I  shall  go  ahead  now,  and  proceed  with  the 
manufacture  of  the  stuff  on  a  large  scale." 

"And  what  do  you  propose  doing  with  it?" 
asked  Mr.  Baxter. 

"I'm  going  to  sell  the  patent  and  the  idea  that 
goes  with  it  to  as  many  large  cities  as  I  can," 
Tom  answered.  "I'll  even  manufacture  the  air- 
ships that  are  needed  to  carry  the  stuff  over  the 
tops  of  blazing  skyscrapers,  dropping  it  down. 
I'll  supply  complete  aerial  fire-fighting  plants." 

"And  I  think  you'll  do  a  good  business,"  said 
the  chemist. 


164     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

It  was  the  conclusion  of  the  final  tests  of  an  im- 
proved chemical  mixture,  and  the  re-action  that 
had  taken  place  in  the  test  tube  was  the  end  of 
the  experiment.  Success  was  now  again  on  the 
side  of  Tom  Swift. 

But  when  that  has  been  said  there  remains  the 
fact  that  it  was  just  the  other  way  with  the  un- 
fortunate Mr.  Baxter. 

Try  as  he  had,  he  could  not  succeed  in  getting 
the  right  chemical  combination  to  perfect  the  dye 
process  imparted  to  him  by  his  late  French  friend. 
.With  the  disappearance  of  the  secret  formulae 
went  the  good  luck  of  Josephus  Baxter. 

He  had  worked  hard,  taking  advantage  of 
Tom's  generosity,  to  bring  back  to  his  memory 
the  proper  manner  of  mixing  certain  ingredients, 
so  that  permanent  dyes  of  wondrous  beauty  in 
coloring  would  be  evolved.     But  it  was  all  in  vain. 

"I  know  who  have  those  formulae,"  declared 
the  chemist  again  and  again.  "It  is  those 
scoundrels,  Field  and  Melling.  And  they  are 
planning  to  build  up  their  own  dye  business  with 
what  is  mine  by  right !" 

And  though  Tom,  also,  believed  this,  there  was 
no  way  of  proving  it. 

As  the  young  inventor  had  said,  he  was  now 
ready  to  put  his  own  latest  invention  on  the 
market.     After  many  tests,  aided  in  some  by  Mr. 


ON  THE  TRAIL  165 

Baxter,  a  form  of  liquid  fire  extinguisher  had 
been  made  that  was  superior  to  any  known,  and 
much  cheaper  to  manufacture.  Veteran  members 
of  fire  departments  in  and  about  Shopton  told 
Tom  so.  All  that  remained  was  to  demonstrate 
that  it  would  be  as  effective  on  a  large  scale  as  it 
was  on  a  small  one,  and  big  cities,  it  was  agreed, 
must,  of  necessity,  add  it  to  their  equipment. 

"Well,  I  think  I'll  give  orders  to  start  the  works 
going/'  said  Tom,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  final 
test.  "I  have  all  the  ingredients  on  hand  now, 
and  all  that  remains  is  to  combine  them.  My 
airship  is  all  ready,  with  the  bomb-dropping  de- 
vice." 

"And  I  wish  you  all  sorts  of  luck,"  said  Mr. 
Baxter.  "Now  I  am  going  to  have  another  go 
at  my  troubles.  I  have  just  thought  of  a  possible 
new  way  of  combining  two  of  the  chemicals  I 
need  to  use.     It  may  be  I  shall  have  success." 

"I  hope  so,"  murmured  Tom.  He  was  about 
to  leave  the  room  when  Koku,  the  giant,  entered, 
with  a  letter  in  his  hand.  The  big  man  showed 
some  signs  of  agitation,  and  Tom  was  at  once 
apprehensive  about  Eradicate. 

"Is  Rad — has  anything  happened — shall  I  get 
the  doctor?" 

"Oh,  Rad,  him  all  right,"  answered  Koku. 
"That  is  him  not  see  yet,  but  mebby  soon.     Only 


166     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

I  have  to  chase  boy,  an'  he  make  faces  at  me — 
boy  bring  this,"  and  the  giant  held  out  the  en- 
velope. 

"Oh !"  exclaimed  Tom,  and  he  understood  now. 
Messenger  boys  frequently  came  to  Tom's  house 
or  to  the  shops,  and  they  took  delight  in  poking 
fun  at  Koku  on  account  of  his  size,  which  made 
him  slow  in  getting  about.  The  boys  delighted 
to  have  him  chase  them,  and  something  like  this 
had  evidently  just  taken  place,  accounting  for 
Koku's  agitation. 

"This  is  for  you,  Mr.  Baxter,  not  for  me," 
said  Tom,  as  he  read  the  name  on  the  envelope. 

"For  me!"  exclaimed  the  chemist.  "Who 
could  be  writing  to  me?  It's  a  big  firm  of  dye 
manufacturers,"  he  went  on,  as  he  caught  a 
glimpse  of  the  superscription  in  the  upper  left 
hand  corner. 

Quickly  he  read  the  contents  of  the  epistle,  and 
a  moment  later  he  gave  a  joyful  cry. 

"I'm  on  the  trail !  On  the  trail  of  those  scoun- 
drels at  last !"  exclaimed  Josephus  Baxter.  "This 
gives  me  just  the  evidence  I  needed!  Now  I'll 
have  them  where  I  want  them !" 


CHAPTER  XX 


A    HEAVY   LOAD 


Josephus  Baxter  was  so  excited  by  the  receipt 
of  the  letter  which  Koku  delivered  to  him  that 
for  some  seconds  Tom  Swift  could  get  nothing 
out  of  him  except  the  statement : 

"I'm  on  their  trail !     Now  I'm  on  their  trail !" 

"What  do  you  mean  ?"  Tom  insisted.  "Whose 
trail?     What's  it  all  about?" 

"It's  about  Field  and  Melling !  That's  who  it's 
about !"  exclaimed  Mr.  Baxter,  with  a  smothered 
exclamation.  "Look,  Tom  Swift,  this  letter  is 
addressed  to  me  from  one  of  the  biggest  dye  firms 
in  the  world — a  firm  that  is  always  looking  for 
something  new!" 

"But  if  you  haven't  anything  new  to  give  them, 
of  what  use  is  it?"  Tom  asked,  for  he  knew  that 
the  chemist  had  said  his  process,  stolen,  as  he 
claimed,  by  Field  and  Melling,  was  his  only  new; 
project. 

"But  I  will  have  something  new  when  I  get 
those  secret  formulas  away  from  those  scoun- 
drels !"  declared  Mr.  Baxter. 
167 


168     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS   ' 

"Yes,  but  how  are  you  going  to  do  it,  when 
you  can't  even  prove  that  they  have  them?"  asked 
Tom. 

"Ah,  that's  the  point!  Now  I  think  I  can 
prove  it,"  declared  Mr.  Baxter.  "Look,  Tom 
Swift !  This  letter  is  addressed  to  me  in  care  of 
Field  and  Melling  at  the  office  I  used  to  have  in 
their  fireworks  factory." 

"The  office  from  which  you  were  rescued 
nearly  dead,"  Tom  added. 

"Exactly.  The  place  where  you  saved  me 
from  a  terrible  death.  Well,  if  you  will  notice, 
this  letter  was  written  only  two  days  ago.  And 
it  is  the  first  mail  I  have  received  as  having  been 
forwarded  from  that  address  since  the  fire.  I 
know  other  mail  must  have  come  for  me,  though." 

"What  became  of  it?"  asked  Tom. 

"Those  scoundrels  confiscated  it !"  declared  the 
chemist.  "But,  in  some  manner,  perhaps  through 
the  error  of  a  new  clerk,  this  letter  was  remailed 
to  me  here,  and  now  I  have  it.  It  is  of  the  ut- 
most importance!" 

"In  what  way  ?"  asked  Tom. 

"Why,  it  is  directed  to  me,  outside  and  in,  and 
it  makes  an  inquiry  about  the  very  dyes  of  the 
lost  secret  formulas,  one  dye  in  particular." 

"I  don't  quite  understand  yet,"  said  Tom. 

"Well,  it's  this  way,"  went  on  Mr.  Baxter.     "I 


A  HEAVY  LOAD  1 69 

had,  in  the  office  of  Field  and  Melling,  all  the 
papers  telling  exactly  how  to  make  the  dyes. 
After  the  fire,  in  which  I  was  rendered  uncon- 
scious, those  papers  disappeared. 

"The  only  way  in  which  any  one  could  make 
the  dyes  in  question  was  by  following  the 
formulae  given  in  those  papers.  And  now  here  is 
a  letter,  addressed  to  me  from  a  big  firm,  asking 
my  prices  on  a  certain  dye,  which  can  only  be 
made  by  the  process  bequeathed  to  me  by  the* 
Frenchman." 

"Which  means  what?"  asked  Tom. 

"It  means  that  Field  and  Melling  must  have 
been  writing  to  this  firm  on  their  own  hook,  offer- 
ing to  sell  them  some  of  this  dye.  But,  in  some 
way,  my  name  must  have  appeared  on  the  letter 
or  papers  sent  on  by  the  scoundrels,  and  this  big 
firm  replies  to  me  direct,  instead  of  to  Field  and 
Melling!  Even  then  I  would  not  have  benefited 
if  they  had  confiscated  this  letter  as,  I  am  sure, 
they  have  done  in  the  case  of  others.  But,  by 
some  slip,  I  get  this. 

"And  it  proves,  Tom  Swift,  that  Field  and 
Melling  are  in  possession  of  my  dye  formulas,  and 
that  they  have  tried  to  dispose  of  some  of  the 
dye  to  this  firm.  Not  knowing  anything  of  this, 
the  firm  replies  to  me.  So  now  I  have  direct  evi- 
dence—just what  I  wanted — and  I  can  got  on  the 


170     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

trail  of  the  scoundrels  who  have  cheated  me  of 
my  rights." 

Tom  looked  at  the  letter  which,  it  appeared,  had 
been  left  with  Koku  by  a  special  delivery  boy 
from  the  post  office.  It  was  an  inquiry  about  cer- 
tain dyes,  and  was  addressed  to  Mr.  Baxter  in 
care  of  Field  and  Melling,  the  former  fireworks 
firm,  which  now  had  started  a  big  dye  plant,  with 
offices  in  the  Landmark  Building  in  Newmarket. 

"It  does  look  as  though  you  might  get  at  them 
through  this,"  Tom  said,  as  he  handed  back  the 
letter.  "But  I'm  afraid  you'll  have  to  get  further 
evidence  before  you  could  convict  them  in  a  court 
of  law — you'll  have  to  show  that  they  actually 
have  possession  of  your  formulae." 

"That's  what  I  wish  I  could  do,"  said  the 
chemist,  somewhat  wistfully.  His  first  enthusi- 
asm had  been  lessened. 

"I'll  help  you  all  I  can,"  offered  Tom.  And 
events  were  soon  to  transpire  by  which  the  young 
inventor  \/as  to  render  help  to  the  chemist  in  a 
most  sensational  manner. 

"Just  now,"  Tom  went  on,  "I  must  arrange 
about  getting  a  large  supply  of  these  chemicals 
made,  and  then  plan  for  a  test  in  some  big  city." 

"Yes,  you  have  done  enough  for  me,"  said  Mr. 
Baxter.  "But  I  think  now,  with  this  letter  as 
evidence,  we'll  be  able  to  make  a  start." 


A  HEAVY  LOAD  171; 

"I  agree  with  you,"  Tom  said.  "Why  don't 
you  go  over  to  see  Mr.  Damon?  He's  a  good 
business  man,  and  perhaps  he  can  advise  you. 
You  might  also  call  on  that  lawyer  who  does  work 
for  Mr.  Keith  and  Mr.  Blake.  And  that  reminds 
me  I  must  call  Mary  Nestor  up  and  find  out 
when  she  is  coming  home.  I  promised  to  fetch 
her  in  one  of  the  airships." 

"I  will  go  and  see  Mr.  Damon,"  decided  Mr. 
Baxter.     "He  always  gives  good  advice." 

"Even  if  he  does  bless  everything  he  sees!" 
laughed  Tom.  "But  if  you're  going  to  see  him 
I'll  run  you  over.     I'm  going  to  Waterfield." 

"Thanks,  I'll  be  glad  to  go  with  you,"  said  the 
chemist. 

Mr.  Damon  was  glad  to  see  his  friends,  and, 
when  he  had  listened  to  the  latest  developments, 
he  exclaimed  with  unusual  emphasis : 

"Bless  my  law  books,  Mr.  Baxter!  but  I  do 
believe  you're  on  the  right  trail  at  last.  Come  in, 
and  we'll  talk  this  over." 

So  Tom  left  them,  traveling  on  to  a  distant  city 
where  he  arranged  for  a  large  supply  of  the 
chemicals  he  would  need  in  his  extinguisher. 

For  several  days  Tom  was  so  busy  that  he  had 
little  time  to  devote  to  Mr.  Baxter,  or  even  to 
see  him.  He  learned,  however,  that  the  chemist 
and  Mr.  Damon  were  in  frequent  consultation, 


172     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS.  ' 

and  the  young  inventor  hoped  something  would 
come  of  it. 

Tom's  own  plans  were  going  well.  He  had  let 
several  large  cities  know  that  he  had  something 
new  in  the  way  of  a  fire-fighting  machine,  and  he 
received  several  offers  to  demonstrate  it. 

He  closed  with  one  of  these,  some  distance  off, 
and  agreed  to  fly  over  in  his  aircraft  and  ex- 
tinguish a  fire  which  was  to  be  started  in  an  old 
building  which  had  been  condemned  and  was  to 
be  destroyed.  This  was  in  a  city  some  four  hun- 
dred miles  away  and  when  Ned  Newton  called  on 
him  one  afternoon  he  found  Tom  busily  engaged 
in  loading  his  sky-craft  with  a  heavy  cargo  of  the 
newest  liquid  extinguisher. 

"You  aren't  taking  any  chances,  are  you, 
Tom?"  asked  Ned. 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"I  mean  you  seem  to  have  enough  of  the  liquid 
'fire-discourager'  to  douse  any  blaze  that  was  ever 
started." 

"No  use  sending  a  boy  on  a  man's  errand," 
said  Tom.  "I'm  counting  on  you  to  go  with  me, 
Ned — y0U  and  Mr.  Baxter.  We  leave  this  aft- 
ernoon for  Denton." 

"I'll  be  with  you.  Couldn't  pass  up  a  chance 
like  that.  But  here  comes  Koku,  and  it  looks  as 
if  he  had  something  on  his  mind." 


'A  HEAVY  LOAD  173 

The  giant  did,  indeed,  seem  to  be  laboring 
under  the  stress  of  some  emotion. 

"Oh,  Master  Tom!"  the  big  man  exclaimed 
when  he  had  got  the  attention  of  the  young  inven- 
tor.    "Rad— he— he " 

"Has  anything  happened  ?"  asked  Tom,  quickly. 

"No,  not  yet.  But  dat  pill  man — he  say  by  to- 
morrow he  know  if  Rad  ever  will  see  sunshine 
more !" 

"Oh,  the  doctor  says  he'll  be  able  to  decide 
about  Rad's  eyesight  to-morrow,  does  he?" 

"Yes.     What  so  pill  man  say,"  repeated  Koku. 

"Urn,"  mused  Tom,  "I  wish  I  were  going  to  be 
here,  but  I  don't  see  how  I  can.  I  must  give  this 
test."  But  it  was  with  a  sinking  heart  as  he 
thought  of  poor  Eradicate  that  the  young  inventor 
proceeded  to  pile  into  his  airship  the  largest  and 
heaviest  load  of  chemicals  it  had  ever  carried. 


CHAPTER  XXI 


THE  LIGHT  IN  THE  SKY 


"Well,  what  do  you  say,  Tom?"  asked  Ned, 
in  a  low  voice. 

"She's  all  right  as  far  as  I  can  see,  though  she 
may  stagger  a  bit  at  the  take  off." 

"It's  a  pretty  heavy  load,"  agreed  the  young 
manager,  as  he  and  Tom  Swift  walked  about  the 
big  fire-fighting  airship  Lucifer,  which  had  been 
rolled  outside  the  hangar.  "But  still  I  think  she'll 
take  it,  especially  since  you've  tuned  up  the  motor 
so  it's  at  least  twenty  per  cent,  more  powerful 
than  it  was." 

"Perhaps  you'd  better  leave  me  out,"  suggested 
Mr.  Baxter,  who  had  been  helping  the  boys. 
"I'm  not  a  feather  weight,  you  know." 

"I  need  you  with  us,"  said  Tom.  "I  want  your 
expert  opinion  on  the  effect  the  new  chemicals 
have  on  the  flames." 

"Well,  I'd  like  to  come,"  admitted  the  chemist, 
"for  it  will  be  a  valuable  experience  for  me.     But 
I  don't  want  an  accident  up  in  the  air." 
174 


THE  LIGHT  IN  THE  SKY  175 

"Trust  Tom  Swift  for  that  I"  cried  Ned.  "If 
he  says  his  aircraft  will  do  the  trick,  it  positively 
will." 

"How  about  leaving  me  out?"  asked  Mr. 
Damon.  "I'm  not  an  expert  in  anything,  as  far 
as  I  know." 

"You  are  in  keeping  us  cheerful.  And  we  may 
need  you  to  bless  things  if  there's  a  slip-up  any- 
where," laughed  Tom,  for  Mr.  Damon  had  been 
invited  to  be  one  of  the  party. 

"I  don't  so  much  mind  a  slip-up,"  said  Mr. 
Damon,  "as  I  do  a  slip  down.  That's  where  it 
hurts!  However,  I'll  take  a  chance  with  you, 
Tom  Swift.  It  won't  be  the  first  one — and  I 
guess  it  won't  be  the  last." 

The  work  of  getting  the  big  airship  ready  for 
what  was  to  be  a  conclusive  test  of  her  fire-fight- 
ing abilities  from  the  clouds  proceeded  rapidly. 
As  has  been  related,  Tom  had  perfected,  with  the 
help  of  Mr.  Baxter,  a  combination  of  chemicals 
which  was  effective  in  putting  out  a  fire  when 
dropped  into  the  blaze  from  above.  Quantities 
of  this  combination  had  been  stored  in  metal  con- 
tainers which  Tom  had  at  first  styled  "bombs," 
but  which  he  now  called  "aerial  grenades." 

The  manner  of  dropping  the  grenades  was,  on 
the  whole,  similar  to  the  manner  in  which  bombs 
were  dropped   from  airships  during  the   Great 


176     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

.War,  but  Tom  had  made  several  improvements  in 
this  plan. 

These  improvements  had  to  do  with  the  releas- 
ing of  the  bombs,  or,  in  this  case,  grenades.  It 
is  not  easy  to  drop  or  throw  something  from  a 
swiftly  moving  airship  so  that  it  will  hit  an  object 
on  the  ground.  During  the  war  aviators  had  to 
train  for  some  time  before  becoming  even  ap- 
proximately accurate. 

Tom  Swift  decided  that  to  leave  this  matter  to 
chance  or  to  the  eye  of  the  occupant  of  an  air- 
ship was  too  indefinite.  Accordingly  he  invented 
a  machine,  something  like  a  range-finder  for  big 
guns.  With  this  it  was  a  comparatively  easy 
matter  to  drop  a  grenade  at  almost  any  designated 
place. 

To  accomplish  this  it  was  necessary  to  take  into 
consideration  the  speed  of  the  airship,  its  height 
above  the  ground,  the  velocity  of  the  wind,  the 
weight  of  the  grenades,  and  other  things  of  this 
sort.  But  by  an  intricate  mathematical  process 
Tom  solved  the  problem,  so  that  it  was  only 
necessary  to  set  certain  pointers  and  levers  along 
a  slide  rule  in  the  cockpit  of  the  craft.  Then 
when  the  releasing  catch  was  pressed,  the  grenades 
would  drop  down  just  about  where  they  were 
most  needed. 


THE  LIGHT  IN  THE  SKY  \jj\ 

"I  think  everything  is  ready,"  said  Tom,  when 
he  had  taken  a  last  look  over  his  craft,  making 
sure  that  all  the  chemical  grenades  were  in  place. 
"If  you  will  be  ready,  gentlemen,  we  will  take  our 
places  and  start  in  about  half  an  hour,"  he  added. 
"I  want  to  say  good-bye  to  my  father,  and  cheer 
up  Rad — if  I  can." 

"The  doctor  will  know  to-morrow,  will  he?" 
asked  Mr.  Damon. 

"Yes.  And  I'm  sorry  I  will  not  be  here  to 
listen  to  the  report,"  said  Tom.  "Though  I  am 
almost  afraid  to  receive  it,"  he  added  in  a  low 
voice.  "I  shall  blame  myself  if  Rad  is  to  go 
through  the  remainder  of  his  life  blind." 

"It  couldn't  be  helped,"  said  Ned.  "We'll  hope 
for  the  best." 

"Yes,"  agreed  Tom,  "that's  all  we  can  do — 
hope  for  the  best.  By  the  way,"  he  went  on, 
turning  to  Mr.  Baxter,  "are  you  any  nearer  fas- 
tening the  guilt  on  those  two  rascals,  Field  and 
Melling?" 

"Bless  my  prosecuting  attorney,  no !"  exclaimed 
Mr.  Damon.  "Those  are  the  slickest  scoundrels  I 
ever  tackled!  They're  like  a  flea.  Once  you 
think  you  have  them  where  you  want  them,  and 
they're  on  the  other  side  of  the  table,  skipping 
around." 


178     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"Tve  about  given  up,"  said  Mr.  Baxter,  in  dis- 
couraged tones.  "I  guess  my  dye  formulae  are 
gone  forever." 

"Don't  say  that!"  exclaimed  Tom.  "Once  I 
get  this  fire  matter  off  my  hands,  I'm  going  to 
tackle  the  problem  myself.  We'll  either  make 
those  fellows  sorry  they  ever  meddled  in  this 
matter,  or  we'll  get  up  a  new  combination  of  dyes 
that  will  put  them  out  of  business !" 

"Bless  my  Easter  eggs,  I'm  glad  to  hear  you 
talk  that  way !"  cried  Mr.  Damon. 

"Well,  Rad,  I'll  expect  to  see  you  up  and 
around  when  I  get  back,"  said  Tom  to  his  old 
servant,  as  he  stepped  into  the  sick  room  to  say 
good-bye. 

"Oh,  is  yo'  goin',  Massa  Tom?"  asked  the 
colored  man,  turning  his  bandaged  head  in  the 
direction  of  the  beloved  voice. 

"Yes.  I'm  going  to  try  out  a  new  scheme  of 
mine — the  fire  extinguisher,  you  know." 

"De  same  one  whut  fizzed  up,  an' — an'  busted 
me  in  de  eyes,  Massa  Tom?" 

"Yes,  Rad,  I'm  sorry  to  say,  it's  the  same  one." 

"Oh,  shucks  now,  Massa  Tom!  whut's  use 
worryin'?"  laughed  Rad.  "I  suah  will  be  all 
right  when  yo'  gits  back.  De  doctor  man — de 
'pill  man'  dat  giant  calls  him — says  I'll  suah  be 
better." 


THE  LIGHT  IN  THE  SKY  179 

"Of  course  you  will,"  declared  Tom,  but  his 
heart  sank  when  he  saw  Mrs.  Baggert  remove  the 
bandages  and  he  caught  sight  of  Rad's  burned 
face  and  the  eyes  that  had  to  be  kept  closed  if 
ever  they  were  again  to  look  on  the  sunshine  and 
flowers.  "And  when  I  come  back,  Rad,  I'll  stage 
a  little  fire  for  your  benefit,  and  show  you  how 
quickly  I  can  put  it  out." 

"Ha!  dat's  whut  I  wants  to  see,  Massa  Tom, 
I  suah  does  like  to  see  fires !"  chuckled  Eradicate. 
"Mah  ole  mule,  Boomerang — does  yo'  'member 
him,  Massa  Tom?" 

"Of  course,  Rad!" 

"Well,  Boomerang  he  liked  fires,  too.  Liked 
'em  so  much  I  jest  couldn't  git  him  past  'em  lots 
ob  times !  But  run  'long,  Massa  Tom.  Yo'  ain't 
got  no  time  to  waste  on  an  ole  culled  man  whut's 
seen  his  best  days.  Yas-sir,  I  reckon  I'se  seen 
mah  best  days,"  and  the  smile  died  from  the 
honest,  black  face. 

"Oh,  don't  talk  like  that !"  cried  Tom,  as  cheer- 
fully as  he  could.  "You've  got  a  lot  of  work  in 
you  yet,  Rad.  Hasn't  he,  Koku  ?"  and  the  young 
inventor  appealed  to  the  giant,  who  seldom  left 
the  side  of  his  former  enemy. 

"Rad  good  man — him  an'  me  do  lots  work — \ 
next  week  mebby,"  said  Koku,  smiling  very 
broadly. 


180     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"That's  the  way  to  talk !"  exclaimed  Tom,  and 
he  laughed  a  little  though  his  heart  was  far  from 
light. 

And  then,  having  seen  to  the  final  details,  he 
took  his  place  in  the  big  airship  with  Ned,  Mr. 
Damon  and  Josephus  Baxter.  The  craft  carried 
the  largest  possible  load  of  fire  extinguishing 
chemicals. 

As  Tom  had  feared,  the  Lucifer  staggered  a  bit 
in  "taking  off"  late  that  afternoon  when  the  start 
was  made  for  the  distant  city  of  Denton,  where 
the  first  real  test  was  to  be  made  under  the  super- 
vision and  criticism  of  the  fire  department.  But 
once  the  craft  was  aloft  she  rode  on  a  level  keel. 

"I  guess  we're  all  right,"  Tom  said.  But  to 
make  certain  he  circled  several  times  over  his  own 
landing  field,  that  a  good  place  to  come  down 
might  be  assured  if  something  unforeseen  de- 
veloped. 

However,  all  went  well,  and  then  the  course 
was  straightened  for  the  distant  city. 

"We'll  go  right  over  Newmarket,  sha'n't  we, 
Tom?"  asked  Ned,  as  the  speed  of  the  Lucifer 
increased. 

"Yes.  And  I  wish  I  had  time  to  stop  and  see 
Mary,  but  I  haven't.  It's  getting  dark  fast,  and 
we  ought  to  arrive  at  our  destination  early  in  the 


THE  LIGHT  IN  THE  SKY  181 

morning.  The  test  has  been  set  by  the  committee 
for  ten  o'clock." 

They  settled  themselves  comfortably  in  the  big 
craft  for  a  long  night  trip,  and  Mr.  Damon  was 
just  going  to  bless  something  or  other  when  he 
pointed  off  into  the  distance. 

"Look,  Tom!"  cried  the  eccentric  man.  "See 
that  light  in  the  sky !" 

"Seems  to  be  a  fire,"  observed  Ned. 

"It  is  a  fire !"  shouted  Mr.  Baxter.  "And  it's 
in  Newmarket,  if  I'm  any  judge." 

Tom  Swift  did  not  answer,  but  he  shoved  for- 
ward the  gasolene  lever  of  his  controls,  and  the 
Lucifer  shot  ahead  through  the  air  while  the  red, 
angry  glow  deepened  in  the  evening  sky. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

TRAPPED 

While  Tom  Swift  was  loading  the  Lucifer  for 
her  trip  and  the  fire  extinguishing  test  to  occur 
the  next  morning,  quite  a  different  scene  was  tak- 
ing place  in  the  home  of  Jasper  Blake,  the  uncle 
of  Mary  Nestor,  where  she  had  gone  to  spend  a 
few  weeks. 

"Well,  are  you  all  ready,  Mary?"  asked  her 
aunt,  and  it  was  about  the  same  time  that  Ned 
Newton  asked  that  same  question  of  Tom  Swift. 
Only  Tom  was  in  Shopton,  and  Mary  was  in 
Newmarket,  and  Tom  was  setting  off  on  an  air 
voyage,  while  Mary  was  only  preparing  to  take 
a  car  downtown  to  do  some  shopping. 

"Yes,  Aunt,  I'm  all  ready,"  Mary  answered. 
"But  I  may  be  a  bit  late  getting  home." 

"Why?"  asked  Mrs.  Blake. 

"I  promised  Uncle  Barton  I'd  stop  and  call  on 
him  at  his  office,"  Mary  replied.  "He  has  some- 
thing he  wants  me  to  take  home  to  mother  when 
I  go  to-morrow." 

"I  shall  be  sorry  to  see  you  go  back,"  said  Mrs, 
182 


TRAPPED  183 

Blake.  "But  I  imagine  there  will  be  those  in 
Shopton  who  will  be  glad  to  see  you  return, 
Mary." 

"Yes,  mother  wrote  that  she  and  dad  were 
getting  a  bit  lonesome,"  the  girl  casually  replied, 
as  she  adjusted  her  veil. 

"Yes,  and  some  one  else.  Ah,  Mary,  you  are 
a  very  lucky  girl !"  laughed  her  aunt,  while  Mary 
turned  aside  so  she  would  not  see  her  own  blushes 
in  the  mirror. 

"I  thought  Tom  was  going  to  call  and  take 
you  home  in  his  airship,  Mary,"  went  on  her  rela- 
tive. 

"So  he  is,  I  believe,  on  his  way  back  from  a 
city  where  he  is  going  to  be  to-morrow  making  a 
big  fire  test.  I  am  to  wait  for  him  until  to- 
morrow afternoon.  But  now  I  really  must  go 
shopping,  or  all  the  bargains  will  be  taken.  Is 
there  any  word  you  want  to  send  to  Uncle 
Barton?" 

"No,"  answered  Mrs.  Blake.  "Though  you 
might  tell  him  to  stop  poking  fun  at  your  Uncle 
Jasper  for  having  invested  money  in  the  Land- 
mark Building.  It's  getting  on  your  Uncle  Jas- 
per's nerves,"  she  added. 

"Uncle  Barton  never  can  give  up  a  joke,  once 
he  thinks  he  has  one,"  said  Mary.  "But  I'll  tell 
him  to  stop  pestering  Uncle  Jasper." 


184     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"Please  do,"  urged  Mary's  aunt,  and  then  the 
girl  left. 

Mary's  uncle,  Barton  Keith,  with  whom  Tom 
Swift  had  been  associated  during  the  undersea 
search,  had  offices  in  the  Landmark  Building,  but 
his  home  was  in  an  adjoining  suburb. 

The  girl  was  pleased  with  the  results  of  her 
shopping,  and  at  the  close  of  the  afternoon  she 
stopped  at  the  Landmark  Building  and  was  soon 
being  shot  up  in  the  elevator  to  the  floor  where 
Barton  Keith  had  his  offices. 

Though  Mr.  Keith  had  refrained  from  invest- 
ing in  the  Landmark  Building  and  though  he 
laughed  at  Mary's  Uncle  Jasper  for  having  done 
so,  this  did  not  prevent  him  from  having  a  suite 
of  offices  in  the  big  structure  which,  as  we  already 
know,  was  owned  in  large  part  by  Field  and  Mel- 
ling. 

"Ah,  Mary !  Come  in !"  exclaimed  Mr.  Keith, 
welcoming  Tom  Swift's  sweetheart.  "It  is  so 
late  I  was  afraid  you  weren't  coming,  and  I  was 
about  to  close  the  office  and  go  home." 

"You  must  blame  the  bargain  sales  for  my  de- 
lay," laughed  Mary.  "I  hope  I  haven't  kept  you 
waiting." 

"No,  I  still  had  a  few  things  to  do.  One  was 
to  write  a  letter  to  your  Uncle  Jasper,  telling  him 


TRAPPED  185 

I  had  heard  of  another  fire  trap  that  was  open  to 
investors." 

"Oh,  and  that  reminds  me  I  must  tell  you  not 
to  push  Uncle  Jasper  too  far !"  warned  Mary. 

"Ha!  Ha!"  laughed  Uncle  Barton.  "He 
made  fun  of  me  for  going  on  the  undersea  search 
with  Tom  Swift.  But  I  made  good  on  that,  and 
that's  more  than  he  can  say  about  his  Landmark 
Building  deal!" 

"But  don't  exasperate  him  too  much!"  begged 
Mary.  "By  the  way,  what  are  they  doing  to  this 
building?  I  see  the  stairways  and  some  of  the 
elevator  shafts  all  littered  with  building  material." 

"They  are  trying  to  make  it  fireproof,"  an- 
swered her  uncle.  "It's  rather  late  to  try  that 
now,  but  they've  got  either  to  do  it  or  stand  a 
big  increase  in  insurance  rates.  I'm  glad  I'm  out 
of  it.  But  now,  Mary,  take  an  easy  chair  until 
I  finish  some  work,  and  then  I'll  walk  out  with 
you." 

Mary  took  a  seat  near  one  of  the  front  win- 
dows, whence  she  could  look  down  into  the  now 
fast-darkening  streets.  She  could  see  the  supper 
crowds  hurrying  home,  and  out  in  the  corridor  of 
the  big  skyscraper  could  be  heard  the  banging  of 
elevator  doors  as  the  office  tenants,  one  after  an- 
other, left  for  the  day. 


1 86     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

Suddenly  there  was  more  commotion  than 
usual,  followed  by  the  sound  of  broken  glass. 
^Then  came  a  cry  of : 

"Fire!     Fire!" 

Mary  sprang  to  her  feet  with  a  gasp  of  alarm, 
and  her  uncle  rushed  past  her  to  the  door  leading 
into  the  hall  outside  his  offices.  As  he  opened  the 
door  a  cloud  of  smoke  rushed  toward  him  and 
Mary,  causing  them  to  choke  and  gasp. 

Mr.  Keith  closed  the  door  a  moment,  and  when 
he  opened  it  again  the  smoke  in  the  hall  seemed 
less  dense. 

"It  probably  is  only  a  slight  blaze  among  some 
of  the  material  the  workmen  are  using,"  he  said. 
"Come,  Mary,  we'll  get  out." 

Pausing  only  to  swing  shut  the  door  of  his 
heavy  safe  and  to  stuff  some  valuable  papers  into 
his  pocket,  Mr.  Keith  advanced  and,  taking  Mary 
by  the  arm,  led  her  into  the  hall.  The  smoke 
was  increasing  again,  and  distant  shouts  and  cries 
could  be  heard,  mingled  with  the  breaking  of 
glass. 

Mr.  Keith  rang  the  elevator  buzzer  several 
times,  but  when  no  car  came  up  the  shaft  in  re- 
sponse to  his  summons  he  turned  to  his  niece  and 
said: 

"We'll  try  the  stairs.     It's   only  ten  stories 


TRAPPED  187 

down,  and  going  down  isn't  anything  like  com- 
ing up." 

"Oh,  indeed  I  can  walk!"  said  Mary.  "Let's 
hurry  out !" 

They  turned  toward  the  stairway,  which  wound 
around  the  elevator  shafts,  but  such  a  cloud  of 
hot,  stifling  smoke  rolled  up  that  it  sent  them 
back,  choking  and  gasping  for  breath. 

And  then,  as  they  stood  there,  up  the  elevator 
shafts,  which  were  veritable  chimneys,  came  more 
hot  smoke,  mingled  with  sparks  of  fire. 

"Trapped!"  gasped  Mr.  Keith,  and  he  pulled 
Mary  back  toward  his  offices  to  get  away  from 
the  choking,  stifling  smoke.     "We're  trapped!" 


CHAPTER  XXIII 


TO  THE  RESCUE 


"Uncle!  Uncle  Barton!"  faltered  Mary,  as 
she  clung  to  Mr.  Keith.  "Can't  we  get  down  the 
stairs  ?"■ 

"I'm  afraid  not,  Mary,"  he  answered,  and  he 
closed  the  door  of  his  office  to  keep  out  the  smoke 
that  was  ever  increasing. 

"And  won't  the  elevators  come  for  us  ?" 

"They  don't  seem  able  to  get  up,"  was  his  reply,, 
"Probably  the  fire  started  in  the  bottom  of  the 
shafts,  and  they  act  just  like  flues,  drawing  up 
the  flames  and  smoke." 

"Then  we  must  try  the  fire  escapes !"  exclaimed 
Mary,  and  she  started  toward  the  front  window, 
pulling  her  uncle  across  the  room  after  her. 

"Mary,  there  aren't — aren't  any  fire  escapes!" 
he  said  hoarsely. 

"No  fire  escapes !"  The  girl  turned  paler  than 
before. 

"No,  not  an  escape  as  far  as  I  know.     You  see, 
this  was  thought  to  be  a  fireproof  building  at  first 
188 


TO  THE  RESCUE  189 

and  small  attention  was  given  to  escapes.  Then 
the  law  stepped  in  and  the  owners  were  ordered 
to  put  up  regular  escapes.  They  have  started  the 
work,  but  just  now  the  old  escapes  have  been  torn 
down  and  the  new  ones  are  not  yet  in  place." 

"Oh,  but  Uncle  Barton!  can't  we  do  some- 
thing?"  cried  Mary.  "There  must  be  some  way; 
out  S     Let's  try  the  elevators  again,  or  the  stairs  V* 

Before  Mr.  Keith  could  stop  her  Mary  had 
opened  the  door  into  the  hall.  To  the  agreeable 
surprise  of  her  uncle  there  seemed  to  be  less  smoke 
now. 

"We  may  have  a  chance!"  he  cried,  and  he 
rushed  out     "Hurry!" 

Frantically  he  pushed  the  button  that  sum- 
moned the  elevators.  Down  below,  in  the  ele- 
vator shafts,  could  be  heard  the  roar  and  crackle 
of  flames. 

"Let's  try  the  stairs !"  suggested  Mary.  "They 
seem  to  be  free  now." 

She  started  down  the  staircase  which  went  in 
square  turns  about  the  battery  of  elevators,  and 
her  uncle  followed.  But  they  had  not  more  than 
reached  the  first  landing  when  a  roll  of  black, 
choking  smoke,  mingled  with  sparks  of  fire, 
surged  into  their  faces. 

"Back,  Mary !  Back !"  cried  Mr.  Keith,  and  he 
dragged  the  impetuous  girl  with  him  to  their  own 


190     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

corridor,  and  back  into  his  offices  which,  for  the 
time  being,  were  comparatively  free  from  the 
choking  vapor. 

"We  must  try  the  windows,  Uncle  Barton! 
We  must!"  cried  Mary.  "Surely  there  is  some 
way  down — maybe  by  dropping  from  ledge  to 
ledge!" 

Her  uncle  shook  his  head.  Then  he  opened  the 
window  and  looked  out.  As  he  did  so  there  arose 
from  the  streets  below  the  cries  of  many  voices, 
mingled  with  the  various  sounds  of  fire  apparatus 
— the  whistles  of  engines,  the  clang  of  gongs,  and 
the  puffing  of  steamers. 

"The  firemen  are  here !  They'll  save  us !"  cried 
Mary,  as  she  heard  the  noises  in  the  street  below. 
"We  can  leap  into  the  life  nets." 

"There  isn't  a  life  net  made,  nor  men  who 
could  retain  it,  to  hold  up  a  person  jumping  from 
the  tenth  story,"  said  her  uncle.  "Our  only 
chance  is  to  wait  for  them  to  subdue  the  fire." 

"Isn't  there  a  back  way  down,  Uncle  Barton  ?" 

"No,  Mary !"  He  closed  the  window  for,  open 
as  it  was,  the  draft  created  served  to  suck  smoke 
into  the  office,  and  Mary  was  coughing. 

Uncle  and  niece  faced  each  other.  Trapped  in- 
deed they  were,  unless  the  fire,  which  was  now 
raging  all  through  the  building,  with  the  stairs 
and  elevator  shafts  as  a  center,  could  be  subdued. 


TO  THE  RESCUE  191 

That  the  city  fire  department  was  doing  its  best 
was  not  to  be  doubted. 

"We  can  only  wait — and  hope,"  said  Mr.  Keith 
solemnly. 

Mary  gave  a  gasp.  Her  uncle  thought  she  was 
going  to  burst  into  tears,  but  she  bravely  con- 
quered herself  and  faced  him  with  what  was 
meant  to  be  a  smile.  But  it  is  difficult  to  smile 
with  quivering  lips,  and  Mary  soon  gave  up  the 
attempt. 

Mr.  Keith  went  over  to  the  water  cooler — one 
of  those  inverted  large  glass  bottles — and  looked 
to  see  how  much  water  it  contained. 

"It's  nearly  full,"  he  said. 

"What  good  will  it  do?"  asked  Mary.  "This 
fire  is  beyond  a  little  water  like  that." 

"Yes,  but  it  will  serve  to  keep  our  handker- 
chiefs  wet  so  we  can  breathe  through  them  if  th? 
smoke  gets  too  thick,"  was  his  reply  . 

"It  begins  to  look  as  if  we'd  need  to  try  that 
soon,"  said  Mary,  and  she  pointed  to  thick 
smoke  curling  in  under  the  door. 

"Yes,"  agreed  her  uncle.     "It's  getting  worse." 

Hardly  had  he  spoken  when  there  came  a  rush 
of  feet  in  the  corridor  outside  his  office  door. 
Then  a  voice  exclaimed : 

"We're  trapped!  We  can't  get  down  either 
the  stairs  or  the  elevators!" 


192     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"It  can't  be  possible!"  said  another  voice. 
"Something  must  be  done !  Help !  Help !  Jake 
ns  out  of  here !" 

"Foolish  cowards !"  murmured  Mr.  Keith,  and 
then  the  door  of  his  office  was  violently  opened 
and  two  men  rushed  in.  They  were  strangers  to 
Mary  and  her  uncle. 

"Isn't  there  any  way  out  of  this  fire  trap?" 
cried  one  of  the  men.  "Are  there  any  fire  escapes 
at  your  windows  ?" 

"None,"  said  Mr.  Keith. 

"This  is  all  your  fault,  Melling!"  cried  the 
smaller  of  the  two  men,  whose  voice,  in  loudness 
and  depth  of  pitch,  was  out  of  all  proportion  to 
his  size.  "All  your  fault !  I  told  you  we  should 
have  those  new  fire  escapes !" 

"And  you  were  the  one,  Field,  who  objected 
to  the  cost  of  fire  escapes  when  you  found  what 
the  charge  would  be,"  retorted  the  other.  "You 
said  we  didn't  need  to  waste  that  money,  if  the 
building  was  fire-proof." 

"But  it  isn't,  Melling!  It  isn't!"  yelled  the 
other. 

"We're  finding  that  out  too  late !"  came  the  re- 
tort. "But  I'm  not  going  to  die  here  like  a  rat 
in  a  trap !"  And  he  raised  the  window  and  leaned 
out  and  yelled,  "Help!  Help!  Help!" 

"Don't  do  that,"  said  Mr.  Keith,  coming  overt© 


XQ  THE  RESCUE  193 

close  the  casement.  "They  can't  hear  you  down 
below,  and  opening  the  window  will  only  fill  this 
place  with  smoke.     Are  you  Field  and  Melling?" 

"Yes,  of  the  Consolidated  Dye  Company,"  was 
the  answer  from  the  big  man.  "We  are  also  part 
owners  of  this  building,  but  I  wish  we  weren't." 

"It  is  a  pretty  poor  specimen  of  a  modern  build- 
ing," said  Mr.  Keith.  "You  have  offices  here, 
haven't  you  ?"  he  went  on.  "I  remember  to  have 
seen  your  names  on  the  directory." 

"We're  on  the  floor  above,"  was  the  answer 
from  Field.  "We  were  in  a  rear  room,  going 
over  some  accounts,  and  we  didn't  know  anything 
was  wrong  until  we  smelled  smoke.  We  tried  to 
get  down,  and  managed  to  come,  by  way  of  the 
stairs,  as  far  as  this  floor,"  he  explained  quickly. 

"You  can't  go  any  farther,"  said  Mr.  Keith. 
"All  there  is  to  do  is  to  wait  for  the  firemen." 

"Suppose  they  never  come?"  whined  Melling. 

"Oh,  they'll  come !"  asserted  Mary's  uncle,  but 
he  spoke  more  to  quiet  her  alarm  than  because  he 
really  believed  it,  for  the  Landmark  Building  was 
a  seething  furnace  of  flame  centering  in  and  about 
the  elevator  shafts  and  stairs. 

Meanwhile  Tom  and  his  companions  in  the  air- 
ship had  seen  the  red  glow  in  the  evening  sky,  and 
in  another  minute  the  young  inventor  had  turned 
his  craft  more  directly  toward  it. 


194     T0M  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"It  surely  is  in  Newmarket,"  said  Mr.  Damon. 
"Right  in  the  center  of  the  city,  too.  There's  one 
big  building  there — the  Landmark." 

"Looks  as  if  that  was  afire,"  said  Ned  quickly. 
"Hasn't  some  relative  of  Mary's  an  office  there, 
Tom?" 

"Yes.  Mr.  Keith.  And  her  other  uncle,  Jas- 
per Blake,  is  also  interested  in  the  building.  It's 
the  Landmark  all  right !"  cried  Tom,  as  his  craft 
rose  higher  and  advanced  nearer  the  blaze. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?"  yelled  Mr. 
Damon,  as  he  saw  the  young  inventor  head  di- 
rectly toward  a  spouting  mushroom  of  flame, 
which  showed  that  the  fire  had  broken  through 
the  roof.     "What  are  you  going  to  do  ?" 

"Go  to  the  rescue !"  answered  Tom  Swift.  "I 
couldn't  ask  a  better  opportunity  to  try  my  new 
extinguisher !     Sit  tight,  every  one !" 


CHAPTER  XXIV 


A  STRANGE  DISCOVERY 


Once  it  became  evident  to  the  occupants  of  the 
airship  what  Tom  Swift's  plans  were,  they  all 
prepared  to  help  him.  Previous  to  the  trip  cer- 
tain duties  had  been  assigned  to  each  one,  duties 
which  were  to  be  exercised  when  Tom  gave  the 
exhibition  of  his  new  aerial  fire-fighting  appa- 
ratus at  the  set  fire  before  the  fire  department  of 
Denton. 

This  preparation  now  stood  the  young  inventor 
in  good  stead,  for  there  was  no  confusion  aboard 
the  Lucifer  when  she  winged  her  way  toward  the 
burning  Landmark  Building,  where  the  flames 
were  continually  spouting  higher  and  higher  as 
they  rushed  through  the  roof,  directly  above  the 
stairway  well  and  elevator  shafts. 

So  far  the  flames  had  confined  themselves  to 
this  central  part  of  the  big  structure,  but  it  was 
only  a  question  of  time  when  they  would  spread 
out  on  all  sides,  licking  up  the  remainder  of  the 
pile.  And,  for  the  most  part,  the  firemen  on  the 
ground  were  at  a  great  disadvantage. 
i95 


196     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

They  had  run  in  lines  as  near  as  they  could 
get  to  the  center  of  the  olaze,  and  had  also  at- 
tached hose  to  the  standpipes  inside  the  building. 
But  this  last  effort  was  wasted,  as  developed  later, 
for  there  was  no  one  in  the  building  to  direct  the 
nozzle  ends  of  the  hose  attached  to  the  standpipes 
on  the  different  floors.  Also  the  fierce  heat  fairly 
melted  the  pipes  themselves  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
elevator  shafts,  and  there  was  no  automatic 
sprinkling  system  in  the  building. 

This  was  the  situation,  then,  when  Tom  in  his 
airship  loaded  with  fire-extinguishing  chemicals, 
headed  for  the  blaze.  And  this,  also,  was  the 
desperate  situation  that  confronted  Mary  Nestor 
and  her  uncle,  Barton  Keith,  as  well  as  Amos 
Field  and  Jason  Melling.  Those  unscrupulous 
and  cowardly  men  were  in  a  veritable  panic  of 
fear,  which  contrasted  strangely  with  the  calm, 
resigned  attitude  of  Mary  and  her  uncle. 

"We  must  get  out !  Some  one  must  save  us  !" 
yelled  Field. 

"Jump  from  the  window !"  cried  Melling. 

"No,  I  can't  permit  that !"  declared  Mr.  Keith, 
standing  in  their  path.  "It  would  be  sure  death ! 
As  it  is,  there  may  be  a  chance." 

"A  chance?  How?"  asked  Field.  "Listen  to 
that!" 

PThrough  the  closed  door  of  Mr.  Keith's  office 


A  STRANGE  DISCOVERY  197 

could  be  heard  the  roar  and  crackle  of  flames, 
while  the  very  air  was  now  stifling  and  hot,  rilled 
with  acrid  smoke. 

\  "We  can  only  wait,"  said  Mr.  Keith,  and  he 
Wet  Mary's  handkerchief  in  the  water  and  handed 
it  to  her  to  bind  over  her  face. 

"Is  everything  all  right,  Ned?"  called  Tom,  as 
he  turned  on  a  little  more  power,  so  that  the 
Lucifer  lunged  ahead  toward  the  great  pillar  of 
iire  that  now  reddened  the  sky  for  miles  around. 

"All  ready,"  was  the  answer.  "You  only  have 
to  give  the  word  when  you  want  us  to  let  go." 

*'Let  go !"  cried  Mr.  Damon.  "Bless  my  um- 
brella, Tom!  We  don't  have  to  jump  out,  do 
we?" 

"He  means  to  let  go  the  extinguisher  grenades," 
said  Mr.  Baxter.  "Shall  we  let  them  all  go  at 
once,  Tom?"  asked  the  chemist. 

"No,  drop  half  when  I  shoot  over  the  first  time. 
We'll  see  what  effect  they  have,  and  then  come 
back  with  the  rest." 

"That's  the  idea !"  cried  Ned.  "Well,  give  us 
the  word  when  you're  ready,  Tom." 

"I  will,"  was  the  answer  of  the  young  inventor, 
and  with  keen  eyes  he  began  to  set  the  automatic 
gages  so  those  in  charge  of  the  grenades  would  be 
able  to  drop  them  most  effectively. 

[The  flames  were  mounting  higher  and  higher 


198     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

above  the  ill-fated  Landmark  Building.  It  was 
a  "land-mark"  now,  for  miles  around — a  fear- 
some mark,  indeed. 

"I  hope  every  one  is  out  of  the  place,"  said 
Ned,  as  the  airship  approached  nearer  and  the 
fierceness  of  the  fire  was  more  manifest. 

"Bless  my  thermometer,  you're  right!"  ex- 
claimed Mr.  Damon.  "I  don't  see  how  any  one 
could  live  in  that  furnace." 

Seen  from  above  it  appeared  that  the  fire  was 
engulfing  the  whole  building,  while,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  only  the  central  portion  was  yet  blazing. 
But  it  was  only  a  question  of  time  when  the  re- 
mainder would  ignite. 

And  it  was  to  this  fact — that  the  fire  was  rush- 
ing up  the  stairway  and  elevator  shafts  as  up  a 
chimney — that  Mary  and  her  uncle,  as  well  as 
Field  and  Melling,  owed  their  temporary  safety. 

Had  Tom  known  that  the  girl  he  loved  was  in 
such  direful  danger,  it  is  doubtful  if  his  hand 
would  have  been  as  steady  as  it  was  on  throttle 
and  steering  wheel.  But  not  a  muscle  or  nerve 
quivered.  To  Tom  it  was  but  carrying  out  a  pre- 
arranged task.  He  was  going  to  extinguish  a 
great  blaze,  or  attempt  to  do  so,  by  means  of  his 
aerial  fire-fighting  apparatus.  And  his  previous 
tests  had  given  him  confidence  in  his  device.  His 
one  regret  was  that  the  fire  department  of  the  city 


A  STRANGE  DISCOVERY  199 

that  was  contemplating  the  purchase  of  certain 
rights  in  his  invention  could  not  witness  what  he 
was  about  to  do. 

"But  they'll  hear  of  it,"  declared  Ned,  when 
Tom  voiced  this  idea  to  his  chum. 

Nearer  and  nearer  to  the  up-spouting  column 
of  flames  the  airship  winged  her  way.  Tense  and 
alert,  Tom  sat  at  the  wheel  guiding  his  craft  with 
her  load  of  fire-defying  chemicals.  Behind  him 
were  Ned,  Mr.  Damon  and  Mr.  Baxter,  ready  to 
drop  the  grenades  at  the  word. 

"Getting  close,  Tom !"  called  Ned,  as  they  could 
all  feel  the  heat  of  the  conflagration  in  the  Land- 
mark Building,  which  now  seemed  doomed. 
"You'll  not  dare  cross  it  too  low  down,  will  you?" 

"No,  I'll  have  to  keep  pretty  well  up,"  was  the 
answer.  "There's  a  current  of  air  over  that  fire 
which  might  turn  us  turtle." 

Heat  creates  a  draft,  sucking  in  colder  air  from 
below,  and  making  an  upward-rushing  column 
which,  in  the  case  of  a  big  blaze,  is  very  powerful. 
Tom  knew  he  had  to  avoid  this. 

It  was  now  almost  time  to  act.  In  another  few 
seconds  they  would  be  sailing  directly  into  the 
path  of  the  up-spouting  flames.  Realizing  that  to 
do  this  at  too  low  an  elevation  would  result  in  dis- 
aster, Tom  sent  his  craft  upward  at  a  sharp  angle. 
Then  he  turned  to  call  to  his  companions. 


200     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"Be  ready  when  I  give  the  word !" 

"All  set  and  ready!"  answered  Ned,  and  the 
others  signified  their  attention  to  the  command 
that  soon  was  to  be  given. 

Having  attained  what  he  considered  a  sufficient 
elevation,  Tom  headed  the  Lucifer  straight  toward 
the  up-spouting  column  of  fire  and  smoke.  If 
ever  his  craft  of  the  air  was  to  justify  her  name 
it  was  now ! 

Straight  and  true  as  an  arrow  she  headed  for 
the  fiery  pillar !  Hotter  and  hotter  grew  the  air  \ 
iThe  darkness  of  the  night  was  lighted  by  the 
awful  fire,  which  rendered  objects  in  the  street 
clear  and  distinct.  But  Tom  and  his  friends  had 
little  time  for  such  observation. 

"Get  ready!"  cried  the  young  inventor  as  he 
felt  a  rush  of  heat  across  his  face,  partly  pro- 
tected, as  it  was,  by  great  goggles. 

"All  ready!"  shouted  Ned. 

"Let  go!"  cried  Tom,  and  with  a  click  of 
springs  the  fire  extinguishers  dropped  from  the 
bottom  of  the  Lucifer  into  the  very  heart  of  the 
flames  in  the  Landmark  Building. 

There  was  a  blast  as  from  a  furnace  seventy 
times  heated,  a  choking  and  gasping  for  breath  on 
the  part  of  the  occupants  of  the  airship,  a  shrivel- 
ing, as  it  seemed,  of  the  naked  flesh,  and  then, 
when  it  appeared  that  all  of  them  must  be  ea- 


A  STRANGE  DISCOVERY  201 

gulfed  in  the  great  heat,  the  airship  passed  out  of 
the  zone  of  fire. 

A  rush  of  cool  air  followed,  reviving  them  all, 
and  then,  when  out  of  the  swirls  of  smoke,  Ned, 
looking  back,  cried : 

"Good  work,  Tom !     Good  work !" 

"Did  we  hit  it  ?"  cried  the  young  inventor. 

"She's  half  gone !"  declared  Mr.  Baxter.  "Can 
you  give  her  the  rest  of  the  load  ?" 

"I'm  going  to  try!"  declared  Tom. 

"Bless  my  bank  balance !"  shouted  Mr.  Damon, 
"are  we  going  through  that  awful  furnace 
again?" 

"It  will  not  be  so  bad  this  time,"  observed  Ned. 
"The  fire  is  half  out  now.  Tom's  stuff  did  the 
trick!" 

Indeed  it  was  evident,  as  Tom  sent  the  Lucifer 
around  in  a  sharp  turn,  that  the  fire  had  been 
largely  smothered  by  the  gas  that  now  lay  over  it 
like  a  wet  blanket.  But  there  was  still  some  fire 
spouting  up. 

"Give  her  all  we  have!"  yelled  Tom,  as,  once 
more,  he  prepared  to  cross  the  zone  of  fire. 

"Right,"  sang  out  Ned. 

Once  more  the  Lucifer  swept  over  the  burning 
building.  Down  shot  the  remaining  grenades, 
falling  into  the  mass  of  flames  and  bursting, 
though  2he  reports  could  not  be  heard  because 


202     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

of  the  tumult  in  the  streets  below.  For  the  fire- 
men and  spectators  had  seen  the  sudden  dying 
down  of  the  fire,  they  had  caught  sight  of  a 
shadowy  shape  in  the  night,  hovering  over  the 
blazing  building,  and  they  wondered  what  it  all 
meant. 

"How  is  it?"  asked  Tom,  as  he  guided  the 
craft  back  to  get  a  view  of  his  work. 

"That  settles  it !"  answered  Ned.  "There  isn't 
fire  enough  now  to  broil  a  beefsteak !" 

This  was  not  exactly  true,  for  the  blaze  was  not 
entirely  subdued.  But  the  flames  had  all  been 
killed  off  in  the  higher  parts  of  the  Landmark 
Building,  and  what  remained  could  easily  be  dealt 
with  by  the  firemen  on  the  ground.  They  pro- 
ceeded to  make  short  work  of  the  remainder  of 
the  conflagration,  the  while  wondering  who  had 
so  effectively  aided  them  from  the  clouds. 

"Well,"  observed  Tom,  as  he  saw  how  effec- 
tively he  had  smothered  the  great  fire,  "it's  of 
no  use  to  go  on  now.  I  haven't  an  ounce  of 
chemical  left  on  board.  I  can't  give  the  demon- 
stration that  I  planned  for  to-morrow." 

"You've  given  a  better  demonstration  here  than 
you  ever  could  have  in  the  other  city,"  declared 
Mr.  Baxter.  "I  fancy  this  will  be  all  the  test 
needed,  Tom  Swift!" 

"Perhaps.     I  hope  so.     But  we  may  as  well 


A  STRANGE  DISCOVERY  203 

land  and  see  from  the  ground  the  effect  of  our 
work.  I'd  also  like  to  inquire  if  any  one  was 
hurt.     Let's  go  down." 

It  was  rather  ticklish  work,  making  a  landing 
in  the  midst  of  a  populous  city,  and  at  night. 
But  as  it  happened,  there  had  been  a  number  of 
buildings  razed  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Landmark 
structure,  and  there  was  a  large,  vacant  level 
space.  Also  several  of  the  city's  fire  department 
searchlights  were  focused  around  the  burning 
structure,  and  when  it  became  evident  that  an  air- 
ship was  going  to  land — though  as  yet  none 
guessed  whose  it  was — the  searchlights  were 
turned  on  the  vacant  spot  and  Tom  was  able  to 
make  a  good  landing,  his  own  powerful  search- 
light giving  effective  aid. 

"What  did  you  do  that  put  out  the  fire?"  de- 
manded the  chief  of  the  Newmarket  department, 
as  he  rushed  up  with  a  crowd  of  others  when 
Tom  and  his  friends  alighted. 

"I  dropped  a  few  grenades  down  that  chimney," 
modestly  answered  the  young  inventor. 

"A  few  grenades !  Say,  you  must  have  turned 
a  whole  river  of  them  loose !"  cried  the  delighted 
chief.  "It  doused  the  fire  quicker  than  I  ever 
saw  one  put  out  in  all  my  life !" 

"I'm  glad  I  was  successful,"  said  Tom.  "But 
fvas  any  one  in  the  building?" 


204     T0M  SWIFT  AMONG.  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

"Yes,  a  few,"  answered  a  policeman,  who  was 
trying  to  keep  the  crowd  back  from  the  airship. 
"They're  bringing  them  out  now." 

"Killed?"  gasped  Tom. 

"No.  But  some  of  them  are  badly  hurt,"  the 
officer  answered.  "There  was  one  young  lady 
and  a  man  named  Barton  Keith " 

"Barton  Keith!"  shouted  Tom,  springing  for- 
ward.    "Was  he Who  was  the  young  lady  ?, 

I— I V 

But  at  that  moment  there  was  a  stir  in  the  crowd 
about  the  building,  in  which  only  a  little  fire 
now  remained,  and  through  the  throng  came  a  di- 
sheveled and  smoke-blackened  young  lady  and  a 
man  whose  clothing  was  also  greatly  disarrayed., 

"Mary !"  cried  the  young  inventor. 

"Tom !"  gasped  Mary  Nestor.  "How  did  you 
get  here?" 

"I  came  to  put  out  the  fire,"  was  the  answer, 
and  Tom  cooled  down  now  that  he  saw  Mary  was 
unharmed.  "How  did  you  happen  to  be  in  the 
fcuilding?" 

"I  was  in  Uncle  Barton's  office  when  the  fire 
broke  out,"  answered  Mary,  "and  we  were 
trapped.  We  had  to  stay  there,  with  two  men 
from  the  floor  above." 

"Yes,  and  if  they  had  stayed  with  us  they 
wouldn't  have  been  hurt,"  said  Mr.  Keith.    "But, 


rA  STRANGE  DISCOVERY,  205 

as  it  wus,  they  rushed  out  and  tried  to  get  down 
the  stairs.  They  were  caught  in  the  draft  and 
badly  burned,  I  believe.  LThey  are  bringing  them 
out  now." 

Two  stretchers,  on  which  lay  inert  forms,  were 
Jx>rne  through  the  now  silent  crowd  by  firemen 
and  police  officers,  and  taken  to  waiting  am- 
bulances. 

"That's  Field  and  Melling,"  said  Mr.  Keith  to 
tTom.  "They  had  offices  just  above  me,  and  they 
were  trapped,  as  were  Mary  and  I.  They  acted 
like  big  cowards,  too,  though  I  hope  they're  not 
badly  hurt.  ^We  stayed  inside  my  office,  and  we 
Jwere  just  giving  up  the  hope  of  rescue  when  the 
fire  seemed  suddenly  to  die  down." 

"I  should  say  it  was  sudden!"  cried  the  en-' 
thusiastic  local  chief.     "It  was  the  chemicals  from 
ithis  young  man's  airship  that  did  the  trick!" 

"Oh,  LTom,  was  it  your  new  machine?"  asked 
Mary. 

"Yes,"  Was  the  answer.  "I  was  on  my  way  to 
give  a  test  to-morrow  in  Denton  when  I  saw  this 
fire.  I  didn't  know  you  were  in  it,  though, 
Mary." 

"Oh,  but  I'm  glad  you  came,"  she  said.  "It 
■was  just — awful !"  and  she  clung  to  Tom's  arm, 
trembling. 

[When  Field  and  Melling,  whose  rasK  conduct 


206     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

had  caused  them  to  be  severely  but  not  fatally 
burned,  had  been  taken  to  a  hospital  and  the  fire 
was  declared  to  be  practically  out,  Tom  made  ar- 
rangements to  leave  his  airship  in  the  city  field  all 
night. 

"And  you  and  your  friends  can  come  to  Uncle 
Jasper's  house,"  said  Mary. 

"Of  course!"  said  Uncle  Jasper  himself,  who 
had  arrived  on  the  scene,  attracted  to  the  fire  by 
the  news  that  his  niece  and  Mr.  Keith  were  in 
danger.  "Lots  of  room!  Come  along!  We'll 
celebrate  your  rescue !" 

So  the  crew  of  the  fire-fighting  Lucifer  went 
with  Mary,  while  the  firemen,  after  again  thank- 
ing Tom  most  enthusiastically,  kept  on  playing, 
as  a  precaution,  their  streams  of  water  on  the  still 
hot  building. 

Only  the  central  portion  of  the  structure,  the 
stairs  and  elevator  shafts,  were  burned  away. 
The  strong  upward  draft  had  kept  the  fire  from 
spreading  much  to  either  side. 

"It  certainly  was  a  fierce  bla2e,  and  I'm  glad 
my  chemicals  took  such  prompt  effect,"  said  Tom. 
"I  shall  not  fear  any  test  after  this." 

It  was  the  day  following  the  night  of  excite- 
ment, and  Tom  and  his  friends,  at  the  invitation 
of  the  fire  department  of  Newmarket,  were  in- 
specting what  was  left  of  the  Landmark  Building 


A  STRANGE  DISCOVERY  207 

— and  there  was  considerable  left — though  access 
to  the  upper  floors  was  to  be  had  only  by  ladders, 
down  which  Mary  and  her  uncle,  Barton  Keith, 
had  been  carried. 

"Here  are  my  offices,"  said  Mr.  Keith,  who  ac- 
companied Tom,  Ned,  Mr.  Damon  and  Mr. 
Baxter,  as  he  ushered  them  into  his  suite  of 
rooms. 

"Bless  my  fountain  pen!  nothing  is  burned 
here,"  cried  the  eccentric  man. 

"No,  the  flames  just  shot  upward,"  explained 
the  fire  chief,  who  was  leading  the  party.  "But 
I  think  those  chemicals  of  yours  would  have  been 
just  as  effective,  Mr.  Swift,  if  the  fire  had  mush- 
roomed out  more." 

"It  was  hot  enough  as  it  was,"  answered  Tom, 
with  a  grim  laugh. 

"Bless  my  thermometer,  too  hot — too  hot  by 
far!"  exclaimed  Tom  Swift's  eccentric  friend,  and 
to  this  Ned  nodded  an  amused  agreement. 

An  exclamation  from  Mr.  Baxter  attracted  the 
attention  of  all  in  Mr.  Keith's  office.  The 
chemist  picked  up  from  the  floor  a  bundle  of 
papers. 

"Here  is  a  bundle  of  documents  that  some  one 
has  dropped,  Mr.  Keith,"  he  said.  "I  guess  you 
forgot  to  put  it  in  your  safe.  Why — why — no — - 
they  aren't  yours !    They're  mine!,    Here  are  my 


208     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

missing  dye  formulae!  The  secret  papers  I've 
been  searching  for  so  long !  The  ones  I  tho&ght 
Field  and  Melling  had!"  cried  Mr.  Baxter. 
"How — how  did  they  get  here?"  and,  wonder- 
ingly,  he  looked  at  the  bundle  of  papers  he  had 
discovered  in  such  a  strange  manner. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE  LIGHT  OF  DAY 

"What's  that?  Your  dye  formulae  Here  lii 
my  office?"  cried  Mr.  Keith,  for  he  had  heard 
something  of  the  chemist's  loss,  though  he  did  not 
directly  associate  Field  and  Melling  with  it. 

"That's  what  this  is!  The  very  papers,  con- 
taining all  the  rare  secrets,  for  which  I  have  been 
so  at  a  loss !"  cried  the  delighted  old  man.  "Now 
I  can  give  to  the  world  the  dyes  for  which  it  has 
long  been  waiting!  Oh,  Tom  Swift,  you  did 
more  than  you  knew  when  you  put  out  this  fire !" 
and  he  hugged  the  bundle  of  smoke-smelling 
papers  to  his  breast. 

"But  how  did  they  get  here?"  asked  the  young 
inventor.  "I  know  that  Field  and  Melling  had 
offices  in  this  building.  They  were  starting  a 
new  dye  concern,  and,  though  Mr.  Baxter  and  I 
suspected  them  of  having  stolen  his  secret,  we 
couldn't  prove  it." 

"But  we  can  now!"  cried  Mr.  Baxter. 
"Though  I  don't  know  that  I'll  bother  even  to  ac- 
cuse them,  as  long  as  I  have  back  my  precious 
209 


2IO     TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

papers.  I  see  how  it  happened.  They  had  the 
formulas  in  their  office.  They  rushed  out  with 
the  documents,  and,  when  they  found  they 
couldn't  get  past  this  floor,  they  went  into  Mr. 
Keith's  office.  There,  in  their  excitement,  they 
dropped  the  papers,  and  you  put  the  fire  out  just 
in  time,  Tom,  or  they'd  have  been  burned  beyond 
hope  of  saving.  You  have  given  me  back  some- 
thing almost  as  valuable  as  life,  Tom  Swift !" 

"I'm  glad  I  could  render  you  that  service,"  said 
the  young  inventor.  "And  I  had  no  idea,  when 
I  dropped  the  chemicals,  that  I  was  saving  some- 
one even  more  valuable  than  your  secret  for- 
mulae," and  they  all  knew  he  referred  to  Mary 
Nestor. 

An  examination  of  the  papers  found  on  Mr. 
Keith's  office  floor  showed  that  not  one  of  the 
dye  secrets  was  missing.  Thus  Mr.  Baxter  came 
into  possession  of  his  own  again,  and  when  Field 
and  Melling  were  sufficiently  recovered  they  were 
charged  with  the  theft  of  the  papers.  The  charge 
was  proved,  and,  in  addition,  other  accusations 
were  brought  against  them  which  insured  their 
remainder  in  jail  for  a  considerable  period. 

As  Mr.  Baxter  had  suspected,  Field  and  Mel- 
ling had,  indeed,  robbed  him  of  his  dye  formulae 
papers.  They  learned  that  he  possessed  them, 
and  they  invited  him  to  a  night  conference  with 


THE  LIGHT  OF  DAY  21 1 

the  purpose  of  robbing  him.  The  fire  in  their 
factory  was  an  accident,  of  which  they  took  ad- 
vantage to  make  it  appear  that  the  chemist  lost 
his  papers  in  the  blaze.  But  they  had  taken  them, 
and  though  they  did  not  mean  to  leave  poor 
Baxter  to  his  fate,  that  would  have  been  the  result 
of  their  selfish  action  had  not  Tom  and  Ned  come 
to  the  rescue.  And  it  was  of  this  "putting  over" 
that  Field  and  Melling  had  boasted,  the  time  Tom 
overheard  their  talk  at  Meadow  Inn. 

As  Mr.  Baxter  guessed,  the  letter  delivered  to 
him  at  Tom's  place  was  one  that  the  two  scoun- 
drels would  have  retained,  as  they  had  others  like 
it,  if  they  had  seen  it.  But  a  new  clerk  forwarded 
it,  and  the  evidence  it  contained  helped  to  convict 
Field  and  Melling. 

As  for  the  Landmark  Building,  while  badly 
damaged,  it  would  have  been  worse  burned  but 
for  Tom's  prompt  action.  And  though  he  was 
more  than  glad  that  he  had  been  on  hand,  he 
rather  regretted  that  he  could  not  give  the  test 
for  which  he  had  set  out. 

Eventually  the  building  was  made  more  nearly 
fire-proof  and  the  fire-escapes  were  rebuilt,  and 
Mr.  Blake  did  not  lose  his  money,  as  he  had 
feared,  though  Barton  Keith  said  it  was  more 
owing  to  Tom  Swift's  good  luck  than  to  Mr. 
Blake's  management. 


212     TOM  SWIFT.  AMONG.  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS; 

But,  as  it  developed,  nothing  could  have  been 
more  opportune  than  Tom's  action,  for  word  of 
his  quenching  a  bigger  blaze  than  he  would  have 
had  to  encounter  in  the  official  test  reached  the 
Denton  fire  department.  As  a  result  there  was  a 
conference,  and,  after  only  a  nominal  showing  of 
his  apparatus,  it  was  adopted  by  a  unanimous 
vote. 

But  this  occurred  some  time  afterward,  for, 
following  his  rescue  of  Mary  Nestor  and  her 
uncle  and  the  saving  of  the  lives  of  Field  and  Mel- 
ling,  as  well  as  others  in  the  building,  by  his 
prompt  smothering  of  the  fire,  Tom  returned  to 
Shopton. 

He  and  his  companions  went  in  the  Lucifer, 
minus,  now,  the  big  load  of  chemicals,  and  on 
landing  near  the  hangar  Tom  was  surprised  to 
see  Koku  the  giant  running  toward  him.  The  big 
man  showed  every  symptom  of  great  excitement 
as  he  cried : 

"Oh,  Master  Tom !  He  see  the  light  ob  day  f 
He  see  the  light  ob  day  now !  Oh,  so  glad !  So 
glad!" 

"Who  sees  the  light  of  day?"  asked  the  young 
inventor. 

"Black  Rad !  Eradicate !  Him  eyes  all  better, 
now!  Pill  man  take  off  cloth.  Rad — he  see, 
light  ob  day!" 


THE  LIGHt   OF  DAY  213 

"Oh,  I'm  so  glad!  So  thankful!"  cried  Tom. 
"How  I've  wished  for  this!  Is  it  really  true, 
Koku?" 

"Sure  true !     Pill  man  say  Rad  see  K  O  now." 

The  giant,  doubtless,  meant  "G  K,"  but  Tom 
understood.  And  it  was  true,  as  he  learned  more 
directly  a  little  later. 

When  Tom  entered  the  room  where  Rad  had 
been  kept  in  the  dark  ever  since  the  explosion,  the 
colored  man  looked  at  his  master  with  seeing: 
eyes,  though  the  apartment  was  still  but  dimly 
lighted. 

"I's  all  right  ag'in  now,  Massa  Tom!"  cried 
Rad.  "See  fine!  I's  all  ready  to  make  more 
smellin'  stuff  to  put  out  fires !" 

"You  won't  have  to,  Rad !"  cried  Tom  joyfully. 
"My  chemical  extinguisher  is  completed,  and  you 
did  your  share  in  making  it  a  success.  But  I 
never  would  have  felt  like  claiming  credit  for  it 
if  you  had  been — had  been  left  in  the  dark." 

"No  mo'  dark,  Massa  Tom!"  said  Eradicate. 
"I  kin  see  now  as  good  as  eber,  an'  yo'-all  won't 
hab  to  'pend  on  dat  lazy  good-fo'-numn  cocoa- 
nut  !"  and  he  chuckled  as  he  looked  at  the  giant. 

"Huh!  Lazy!"  retorted  the  big  man.  "I 
show  you — black  coon !" 

"By  golly !"  laughed  Rad.  "Him  an'  me  good 
friends  now,   Massa  Tom.     Neber  I   fuss  wif 


214     ToM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

Koku  any  mo' !  He  suah  was  good  to  me  when  I 
had  to  stay  in  de  dark !" 

Of  course  it  would  be  too  much  to  hope  that 
Koku  and  Eradicate  never  again  quarreled,  but 
for  a  long  time  their  warm  friendship  was  a  thing 
at  which  to  marvel,  considering  the  past. 

"Well,  I  guess  this  settles  it,"  said  Tom  to  Ned 
one  day,  after  going  over  the  day's  mail. 

"Settles  what,  Tom?" 

"My  aerial  fire-fighting  apparatus.  Here's 
word  from  the  National  Fire  Underwriters  As- 
sociation that  they  have  adopted  it,  and  there  will 
be  a  big  reduction  of  rates  in  all  cities  where  it  is 
a  part  of  the  fire  department  equipment.  It's 
been  as  great  a  success  as  Mr.  Baxter's  new  dye." 

"Yes,  and  he  has  had  wonderful  success  with 
that.  But  what  are  you  going  to  do  now,  Tom?, 
What  new  line  of  endeavor  are  you  going  to  aim 
at?" 

Tom  arose  and  reached  for  his  hat. 

"I  am  now  going,"  he  said,  with  a  grin,  "to  see 
somebody  on  private  business." 

"You  are  going  to  see  Mary  Nestor!"  broke 
out  Ned. 

"I  am,"  said  Tom. 

And  he  did. 

THE  END 


Would  you  like  to  know  what 
became  of  the  good  friends  you 
have  made  in  this  book? 

Would  you  like  to  read  other 
stories  continuing  their  adventures 
and  experiences,  or  other  books 
quite  as  entertaining  by  the  same 
author  ? 

On  the  reverse  side  of  the  wrap- 
per which  comes  with  this  book, 
you  will  find  a  wonderful  list  of 
stories  which  you  can  buy  at  the 
same  store  where  you  got  this  book. 

Don't  throw  aivay  the  Wrappi 

Use  it  as  a  handy  catalog  of  the  books 
you  want  some  day  to  have.  ^But  in 
case  you  do  mislay  it,  write  to  the 
^Publishers  for  a  complete  catalog. 


THE  TOM  SWIFT  SERIES 

By  VICTOR  APPLETON 

Uniform   Style   of   Binding.      Individual   Colored  Wrappers. 
Every  Volume  Complete  in  Itself. 

Every  boy  possesses  some  form  of  inventive  genius. 
Tom  Swift  is  a  bright,  ingenious  boy  and  his  inventions 
and  adventures  make  the  most  interesting  kind  of  reading, 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  MOTOR  CYCLE 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  MOTOR  BOAT 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  AIRSHIP 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  SUBMARINE  BOAT 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  ELECTRIC  RUNABOUT 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  WIRELESS  MESSAGE 

TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  DIAMOND  MAKERS 

TOM  SWIFT  IN  THE  CAVES  OF  ICE 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  SKY  RACER 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  ELECTRIC  RIFLE 

TOM  SWIFT  IN  THE  CITY  OF  GOLD 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  AIR  GLIDER 

TOM  SWIFT  IN  CAPTIVITY 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  WIZARD  CAMERA 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GREAT  SEARCHLIGHT 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GIANT  CANNON 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  PHOTO  TELEPHONE 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  AERIAL  WARSHIP 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  BIG  TUNNEL 

TOM  SWIFT  IN  THE  LAND  OF  WONDERS 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  WAR  TANK 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  AIR  SCOUT 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  UNDERSEA  SEARCH 

TOM  SWIFT  AMONG  THE  FIRE  FIGHTERS 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  ELECTRIC  LOCOMOTIVE 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  FLYING  BOAT 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  GREAT  OIL  GUSHER 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  CHEST  OF  SECRETS 

TOM  SWIFT  AND  HIS  AIRLINE  EXPRESS 


Grosset  &  Dunlap,         Publishers,  New  York 


THE    DON   STURDY    SERIES 

By  VICTOR  APPLETON 

Individual  Colored  Wrappers  and  Text  Illustrations  by 

WALTER  S.  ROGERS 

Every  Volume  Complete  in  Itself 


In  company  with  his  uncles,  one  a  mighty  hunter  and 
the  other  a  noted  scientist,  Don  Sturdy  travels  far  and  wide, 
gaining  much  useful  knowledge  and  meeting  many  thrill- 
ing adventures. 

DON  STURDY  ON  THE  DESERT  OF  MYS- 
Or,  Autoing  in  the  Land  of  the  Caravans.  TERYj 

An  engrossing  tale  of  the  Sahara  Desert,  of  encounters 
with  wild  animals  and  crafty  Arabs. 

DON  STURDY  WITH  THE  BIG  SNAKE 
Or,  Lost  in  the  Jungles  of  the  Amazon.  HUNTERS; 
Don's  uncle,  the  hunter,  took  an  order  for  some  of  the 
biggest  snakes  to  be  found  in  South  America — to  be  deliv- 
ered alive  !  The  filling  of  that  order  brought  keen  excite- 
ment to  the  boy. 

DON  STURDY  IN  THE  TOMBS  OF  GOLD; 
Or,  The  Old  Egyptian's  Great  Secret. 

A  fascinating  tale  of  exploration  and  adventure  in  the 
Valley  of  Kings  in  Egypt  Once  the  whole  party  became 
lost  in  the  maze  of  cavelike  tombs  far  underground. 

DON  STURDY  ACROSS  THE  NORTH  POLE; 

Or,  Cast  Away  in  the  Land  of  Ice. 

Don  and  his  uncles  joined  an  expedition  bound  by  air 
across  the  north  pole.  A  great  polar  blizzard  nearly  wrecte 
the  airship. 

DON  STURDY  IN  THE  LAND  OF  VOLCANOES; 

Or,  The  Trail  of  the  Ten  Thousand  Smokes. 

An  absorbing  tale  of  adventures  among  the  volcanoes  of 
Alaska  in  a  territory  but  recently  explored.  A  story  that 
will  make  Don  dearer  to  his  readers  titan  ever. 


Grosset  &  DuNiAP,  Publishers,        New  York 


THE    RADIO    BOYS   SERIES 

(Trademark  Registered) 

By  ALLEN  CHAPMAN 

Author  of  the  "Railroad  Series,"  Etc. 

Individual  Colored  Wrappers.     Illustrated. 
Every  Volume  Complete  in  Itself. 

A  new  series  for  boys  giving  full  details  of  radio  work, 
both  in  sending  and  receiving — telling  how  small  and 
large  amateur  sets  can  be  made  and  operated,  and  how 
some  boys  got  a  lot  of  fun  and  adventure  out  of  what  they 
did.  Each  volume  from  first  to  last  is  so  thoroughly  fas- 
cinating, so  strictly  up-to-date  and  accurate,  we  feel  sure 
all  lads  will  peruse  them  with  great  delight. 

Each  volume  has  a  Foreword  by  Jack  Binns,  the  welk 
known  radio  expert. 

THE  RADIO  BOYS'  FIRST  WIRELESS; 
Or,  Winning  the  Ferberton  Prize. 

THE  RADIO  BOYS  AT  OCEAN  POINT; 
Or,  The  Messsage  That  Saved  the  Ship. 

THE  RADIO  BOYS  AT  THE  SENDING 

Or,  Making  Good  in  the  Wireless  Room.    STATION; 

THE  RADIO  BOYS  AT  MOUNTAIN  PASS; 
Or,  The  Midnight  Call  for  Assistance. 

THE  RADIO  BOYS  TRAILING  A  VOICE; 
Or,  Solving  a  Wireless  Mystery. 

THE  RADIO  BOYS  WITH  THE  FOREST 

Or,  The  Great  Fire  on  Spruce  Mountain.    RANGERS; 

THE  RADIO  BOYS  WITH  THE  ICEBERG 

Or,  Making  Safe  the  Ocean  Lanes.  PATROL; 

EADIO  BOYS  WITH  THE  FLOOD  FIGHTERS; 

Or,  Saving  the  City  in  the  Valley. 

CS&osset  &  Dtjnlap,         Publishers,         New  Yokk. 

*""" ^ "•'•'•    -  - '  ""• - :  ' '  ate 


THE  RAILROAD  SERIES 

By  ALLEN  CHAPMAN 

Author  of  the  "Radio  Boys,"  Etc. 

Uniform  Style  of  Binding.    Illustrated. 
Every  Volume  Complete  in  Itself. 


In  this  line  of  books  there  is  revealed  the  whole  workings 
of  a  great  American  railroad  system.  There  are  adventures 
in  abundance — railroad  wrecks,  dashes  through  forest  fires, 
the  pursuit  of  a  "wildcat"  locomotive,  the  disappearance  of 
a  pay  car  with  a  large  sum  of  money  on  board — but  there 
is  much  more  than  this — the  intense  rivalry  among  railroads 
and  railroad  men,  the  working  out  of  running  schedules, 
the  getting  through  "on  time"  in  spite  of  all  obstacles,  and 
the  manipulation  of  railroad  securities  by  evil  men  who 
wish  to  rule  or  ruin. 

RALPH  OF  THE  ROUND  HOUSE; 
Or,  Bound  to  Become  a  Railroad  Man. 

RALPH  IN  THE  SWITCH  TOWER; 
Or,  Clearing  the  Track. 

RALPH  ON  THE  ENGINE; 

Or,  The  Young  Fireman  of  the  Limited  Mail. 

RALPH  ON  THE  OVERLAND  EXPRESS; 

Or,  The  Trials  and  Triumphs  of  a  Young  Engineer. 

RALPH,  THE  TRAIN  DISPATCHER; 

Or,  the  Mystery  of  the  Pay  Car. 

RALPH  ON  THE  ARMY  TRAIN; 

Or,  The  Young  Railroader's  Most  Daring  Exploit, 

RALPH  ON  THE  MIDNIGHT  FLYER; 
Or,  The  Wreck  at  Shadow  Valley. 

RALPH  AND  THE  MISSING  MAIL  POUCH; 
Or,  The  Stolen  Government  Bonds. 


GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,    Publishers,  NEW  YORK 


B-^artaetanr  -graarrrr  u-=gaw 


THE  RIDDLE  CLUB    BOOKS 

By  ALICE  DALE  HARDY 

Individual  Colored  Wrappers.     Attractively  Illustrated. 
Every  Volume  Complete  in  Itself. 


Here  is  as  ingenious  a  series  of  books  for  little  folks  as 
has  ever  appeared  since  "  Alice  in  Wonderland."  The  idea 
of  the  Riddle  books  is  a  little  group  of  children— three  girls 
and  three  boys  decide  to  form  a  riddle  club.  Each  book  is 
full  of  the  adventures  and  doings  of  these  six  youngsters, 
but  as  an  added  attraction  each  book  is  filled  with  a  lot  of 
the  best  riddles  you  ever  heard. 

THE  RIDDLE  CLUB  AT  HOME 

An  absorbing  tale  that  all  boys  and  girls  will  enjoy  reading. 
How  the  members  of  the  club  fixed  up  a  clubroom  in  the  Larue 
barn,  and  how  they,  later  on,  helped  solve  a  most  mysterious 
happening,  and  how  one  of  the  members  won  a  valuable  prize, 
is  told  in  a  manner  to  please  every  young  reader. 

THE  RIDDLE  CLUB  IN  CAMP 

The  club  members  went  into  camp  on  the  edge  of  a  beautiful 
lake.  Here  they  had  rousing  good  times  swimming,  boating 
and  around  the  campfire.  They  fell  in  with  a  mysterious  old  man 
known  as  The  Hermit  of  Triangle  Island.  Nobody  knew  his 
real  name  or  where  he  came  from  until  the  propounding  of  a 
riddle  solved  these  perplexing  questions. 

THE  RIDDLE  CLUB  THROUGH  THE 

HOLIDAYS 

This  volume  takes  in  a  great  number  of  winter  sports,  includ- 
ing skating  and  sledding  and  the  building  of  a  huge  snowman. 
It  also  gives  the  particulars  of  how  the  dob  treasurer  lost  the 
dues  entrusted  to  his  care  and  what  the  melting  of  the  great 
snowman  revealed. 

THE  RIDDLE  CLUB  AT  SUNRISE  BEACH 

This  volume  tells  how  the  club  journeyed  to  the  seashore  and 
how  they  not  only  kept  up  their  riddles  but  likewise  had  good 
times  on  the  sand  and  on  the  water.  Once  they  got  lost  m  a  tog 
and  are  marooned  on  an  island.  Here  they  made  a  discovery 
that  greatly  pleased  the  folks  at  home. 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,    Publishers,  NEW  YORK 


